


New Beginnings. New Fate.

by FreeTheKyuubi



Category: Naruto
Genre: BA Naruto, Found Family, Gen, No Smut, Sakura is insecure, Sasuke had it rough, Tags Are Hard, Teen Romance, They're all good kids, angst with heart, he is still a lovable dunce, redemption for the deserving
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29971773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeTheKyuubi/pseuds/FreeTheKyuubi
Summary: ///Originally posted on FFdotnet. Transitioning over to try and get my writing drive back.///He has had enough. He needs to get away.He ran with everything he had, never slowing down, never looking back, leaving the hidden Shinobi village of Konoha further behind him with every step, until his legs buckled beneath him and he fell headlong into the forest floor, scattering fallen leaves and dirt with his impact.“I just…need to…rest for a…minute.” He panted as his eyes closed, the last thing his tired mind registering being the sound of crunching leaves."My name is Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konoha!""If I understand it right, a Kage is supposed to protect the people of his village even if it costs him his life. Why would you want to do that for a village that has caused you so much pain?”“To show them they were wrong!”"Good answer. Would you like some help?"-or-Naruto runs away from Konoha and meets a traveling teenager who takes him under his wing. Is Konoha ready for a rebellious duo who may live a bit too close to their emotions?Sometimes the best family is the one you find.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata/Inuzuka Kiba, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Tenten/Uzumaki Naruto, Yuuhi Kurenai/Original Male Character(s)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all, welcome to my attempt to get myself back into the writing game. I originally posted this on FF, but life kept getting in the way and soon I just couldn’t find the motivation to write anymore. So I decided to post on AO3 because I have found myself reading a lot of work from here and wanted to feel like I contributed and hopefully, get me going again. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story.
> 
> A Note after a Note: Fair warning, there are a lot of scenes later in this story that could be considered ‘gay bashing’. I would just like to tell you that while I, FreeTheKyuubi, am not gay, I have no problems with anyone in the LBGTQ community. Especially seeing as I have friends and family members that are gay. The character guilty of the constant comments does have a problem, but that is because of a reason that will be revealed later. I also realized that a lot of the "your gay" type comedy had a lot to do with the fact I started writing this while I was in the military and that the culture of that type of joking had worked it's way into the story. I have since been going through and trying to remove or change some of the material that seemed to strong on bashing or just plain unnecessary. Some was left for the purpose of character development, but it should be far less prominent than it was originally. And if you ever want to see it in all its unedited glory, it is still on FF under the same name.
> 
> Disclaimer: I was going to rant on about how I don’t own Naruto, but I figured just telling you all would do the trick.

**Chapter 1:** The Meeting

A little boy of only seven years old with sunny blonde hair, deep cerulean blue eyes, and three strange whisker like birthmarks on each of his cheeks was running through the darkened forest as fast as he could. Behind him he could hear the shouts of the villagers fading into the distance as they continued their relentless search for him.

It had been happening as long as he could remember. The villagers were always beating him, yelling at him, denying him access into stores and restaurants or grossly overcharging him if they did let him in and abusing him in any other ways they could think up. Eventually he had learned to stay out of their hate filled sight, only coming out of his small, rundown little apartment when he had no choice. It was the only peace he ever received.

However, there was one day of the year that no matter where he hid the villagers would come looking for him, and if they found him, they would give him the worst beating of the entire year. On several of these occasions he had almost been killed, surviving only due to the timely arrival of a strange group of people wearing porcelain animal masks that he had heard some of the villagers call, ANBU. There had been one of them in particular that had saved the boy on many occasions, but he didn’t know anything about him other than the fact he wore a dog mask and had weird, silver hair.

So, who was this little blonde boy, and what was this terrible day that now had him running for his life through the forest in the dead of night? The young boy’s name was Uzumaki Naruto, and today was October 10th, his birthday.

After seven years of being neglected and abused, Naruto had finally decided he had had enough. He wanted, no, _needed_ to get out of the village as fast as he could. He had watched the guards at the gate carefully and used the skills he had obtained from years of avoiding being seen to slip past them at the first opportunity. Since none of the villagers had realized his escape, they had continued their search in the village, unaware that their prey was moving further out of their reach with every second.

Naruto ran with everything he had, never slowing down, never looking back, leaving the hidden Shinobi village of Konoha further behind him with every step. As he ran thoughts of an old man in large red and white hat, with a pipe in his mouth and a gentle smile on his lips came to his mind. The Hokage of Konoha.

The old man had always been kind to him, visiting the poor boy on several occasions. He would always smile and joke with Naruto, even taking the boy to his favorite place in the world, Icharaku’s Ramen Stand. He was the only one in the world that Naruto could have ever considered family, and he was leaving him behind with the rest of the village.

‘ _I’m sorry, Ojii-san, but I can’t take it anymore._ ’ The boy mentally apologized as tears welled up in his eyes. ‘ _I promise, I’ll get strong, and one day I’ll come back to see you again. I won’t give up my dream to become the Hokage and gain everyone’s respect, but I need to get away for now._ ’

Naruto had no idea what direction he had been going or for how long he had been running when his legs and lungs could no longer handle the strain he was putting them through. His legs buckled beneath him and he fell headlong into the forest floor, scattering fallen leaves and dirt with his impact.

As he lay panting on the ground, he could feel his eyes slowly starting to force their way shut as the exhaustion from his long exertion began taking its toll on him.

“I just…need to…rest for a…minute.” He panted as his eyes closed and he was pulled into a deep slumber. The last thing his tired mind registering being the sound of crunching leaves.

X X X X X

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi, stood in his office in front of a large window overlooking Konoha. He could see the festival very easily from where he was. He could honestly say that he didn’t like it either. The festival was held once a year in commemoration of a great hero of the village, the Yondaime Hokage, who had died saving the village from a terrible menace known as The Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi was a giant nine tailed fox that wrought destruction and chaos wherever it went. Its tails were said to level mountains and cause tsunamis with a single sweep. It was such a terrible menace that it had become thought of as a natural disaster, something that could only be survived through, never prevented.

On this day, October 10th, exactly seven years ago, the fox had attacked Konoha. Nobody knows its reason for doing so, or if it even _had_ a reason, but the ninja of Konoha had risen up and fought the great beast instead of hiding in fear. The battle had raged for hours on end and a great many lives were lost. Until the Yondaime gave his own life in exchange for sealing the Kyuubi’s soul into a newborn baby, thus stopping the fox’s reign of fear and destruction.

The child, that had been forced to carry the heavy burden of being the Kyuubi’s jailor, was none other than Uzumaki Naruto.

It had been the Yondaime’s dying wish that Naruto be seen as a hero for the burden he now bore, but as soon as Sarutobi announced to the villagers what had happened they started rioting. Their fear of the creatures return and the pain of their recent losses leading to their demanding desire that the blond baby be executed. In the end, Sarutobi had been forced to call in his ANBU to stop the riot and detain some of the more violent villagers. It was then that he passed a law that nobody was to ever speak of that day’s events or Naruto’s burden to any of the younger generations. Breaking this law would be considered a capital offence punishable by death. It was the old man’s hope that by doing so, at the very least Naruto would be able to find a place among the youth of the village and have something of a normal life.

Unfortunately, Sarutobi’s hopes were dashed as the years passed. The adults of the village scorned and abused Naruto, and that hateful attitude had been passed to their children. Naruto was treated as a plague and made an outcast by everyone, young and old alike. The boy never had a friend, and lived alone in a pathetic little apartment that Sarutobi had, through intimidation and more than a few threats, managed to get him after he had been found living on the streets because the orphanage had kicked him out.

Now the old man waited impatiently for the ANBU he had dispatched to bring Naruto to the office for protection. He knew that the beatings were the worst on this day. People remembered the pain of losing loved ones in that terrible battle and took their misguided anger out on the innocent boy. Sarutobi had had enough of it and had vowed that day to insure that Naruto would not have to suffer this year as he had the last six. It was the least he could do for the poor boy.

Two chakra signatures arrived behind him, and Sarutobi gave a sigh of relief when he recognized them as the ones he had sent to retrieve Naruto. He turned around with his kindly smile in place, only to have that smile drop when he saw that the boy was not with the two kneeling ANBU.

“What happened? Where is Naruto?” He demanded, afraid that something may have already happened to the boy.

“We went to his apartment to get him as you ordered, Hokage-sama, but he was not there.” The ANBU in front said. He wore a dog mask and had a head of gravity defying silver hair. Sarutobi had assigned this particular ANBU to watch over Naruto on many occasions since he was one of the few who had no hatred for the boy. “However, when we searched his apartment for signs of struggle, we found this on the kitchen table.” The silver haired man held out a dirty piece of paper to the Hokage.

Sarutobi instantly recognized the untidy scrawl of Naruto’s handwriting, and was certain he already knew what it said even as he began reading.

_Dear Ojii-san,_

_I’m really sorry about this, but I really had to leave. I didn’t want to leave you behind since you are the only one who has ever been nice to me, but I promise I’ll see you again. I’ll get stronger and come back so that I can be the Hokage, just like I told you I would. I hope you aren’t mad at me for doing this, but I just had to get away from the village and all the mean looks and beatings. Take care of yourself, Ojii-san, and know that you are really the only person I’ll miss while I’m gone. Well maybe I’ll miss that dog guy too, but we never talk so I probably won’t miss him that much._

_Bye Ojii-san,_

_Naruto_

_P.S. When I come back, will you buy me some ramen?_

Despite the sadness and worry the old man felt from reading the letter, he couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at Naruto’s last comment. Trust that boy to think of ramen even as he prepared to leave the village.

Sarutobi’s thoughts grew more serious then. By all accounts, he should send his ANBU to track the boy down and bring him back to the village as soon as possible, but the more he thought about it the more like a bad idea it sounded. Naruto had left the village because he could no longer stand the treatment that the villagers put him through, and the old man really couldn’t blame him for that. If he were honest with himself, he would have to admit that getting out of the village was probably the best thing for him. To bring him back now could devastate the boy who was only looking for some sort of relief from the nightmare that was his life. Sarutobi knew that he needed to let Naruto have this, but that didn’t make him worry any less for the boy’s safety.

Sarutobi raised his eyes from the letter to the two ANBU who were still kneeling in front of him and an idea quickly formed. “Captain,” He said to the dog masked man. “Your subordinate is dismissed, but I would like to discuss something with you before you go.”

The dog masked man turned to look at his companion, who nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Looking back at the Hokage he spoke. “What do you need, Hokage-sama?”

“I think you already know what I am going to ask of you, Kakashi.” Sarutobi said, getting straight to the point.

The man nodded, “You want me to find Naruto and make sure he is safe, but not bring him back. Is that right, Hokage-sama?”

“Yes, as much as it pains me to admit, it would be good for Naruto to have his chance to get away from the scorn of the village for a while. However, I cannot let him just go without making sure he is taken care of. That’s why your mission will be to find Naruto and follow him until you have determined he will be safe. Is that understood?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama.” Kakashi bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

With a heavy sigh, Sarutobi turned back to the window he had been staring out before, his eyes looking over the rooftops to the mountains beyond them as if hoping to catch sight of the blond boy.

‘ _I have failed you horribly thus far, Naruto. I only hope that this decision will be the right one_.’

X X X X X

He was warm. That was the first thing that came to Naruto’s mind as he slowly came out of his blissful slumber. He had expected to wake up cold and shivering having fallen asleep on the forest floor, but he was undeniably warm. He also noticed that his head was resting on something soft. How that came to be Naruto had no idea, but he knew there was only one way to find out.

Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself on his back, staring at the starry night sky. He couldn’t have been asleep that long if it was still night out. Turning his head he found the source of his comfortable warmth was a happily dancing fire about two meters away from him and a quick look down told him that his head had been resting on his own rolled up jacket.

“So, you’re finally awake, eh?”

Naruto jumped at least a foot into the air and clutched his chest before turning to the owner of the voice that had just scared the hell out of him.

Walking in from the shadows of the trees was a young man that looked like he couldn’t be older than twenty, wearing nothing but black. His torso was covered with a black, Gi like top that disappeared into his black shinobi pants and wore a pair of black boots that the legs of his pants were tucked into. Strangely enough, despite the fact it was the middle of the night, he also wore a pair of dark black half-framed sunglasses that completely hid his eyes from view. While looking at his face, Naruto also caught sight of a black wrapped sword hilt sticking out over the man’s right shoulder. Once the stranger got closer the fire light better revealed his features and Naruto saw that his arms and the visible portion of his chest had several large scars on them that could only signify a hard, battle filled life.

Of all the things that Naruto could have been impressed with though, it was the stranger’s hair that caught his interest the most. It was short and seemed to defy gravity somewhat without the spike appearance Naruto’s had, but what made it interesting to the boy was that it was a sort of dark, dirty-blond color that Naruto had never seen. That wasn’t to say that he had never met another blond before, it was just that he had never seen this particular shade. He had seen that one girl playing with her friends at the park. She had a kind of platinum colored blonde. Then there was that man that Naruto was fairly sure was her father since he always picked her up from the park, but his was just a bit darker shade of blond.

“You hungry, kid?” The stranger asked as he held up four fish that were attached on a line of ninja wire.

Naruto didn’t get to answer because at that moment his stomach decided to let off a loud growl. Naruto blushed a little in embarrassment when the young man laughed. “I guess I’ll take that as a yes, but you’ll have to wait until they cook first.” He took out four sticks he had been carrying with him and proceeded to impale each fish on one before propping the sticks in the dirt so the fish could be cooked by the heat of the fire.

“So, kid, you want to tell me what you were doing sleeping on the ground, in the middle of the forest, all alone? The last time I checked that wasn’t the smartest thing for a kid your age to be doing.” The stranger asked as he sat cross legged on the ground behind the fish.

Naruto shifted uneasily at the older boy’s question and looked down. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the stranger seeing as he had not shown any sort of malice and was already taking care of him. It was just that he didn’t want to go back to the village yet, and if he told him, the older male might feel obligated to take him back.

“Well I suppose if you don’t trust me you don’t have to tell me. I know I’m not the safest looking person around.” The young man said, making Naruto snap his head back up. Naruto was a little surprised to see a good natured smile on the teen’s face instead of the disappointed frown he had been expecting.

Shaking his head, Naruto spoke for the first time that evening. “It’s not that I don’t think I can trust you. It’s just that I don’t want to go back to where I came from yet. If I don’t tell you, then you have no reason to take me back.”

“Can’t say I don’t like the logic, but what makes you so sure I’d try to?” The stranger said as he turned the fish to keep them cooking evenly. Taking in Naruto’s surprised expression he simply shrugged. “You left for your own reasons, right? I may not know what those reasons are, but I wouldn’t take you back to a place that you obviously want to get away from. I took off to challenge the world myself when I wasn’t much older than you so it’d be kind of hypocritical of me to tell you you’re wrong in doing it too. Don’t you think?”

Naruto wasn’t sure if he was more relieved that the older boy wasn’t planning to force him to go back, or surprised that he had just said that he also had left his home a long time ago. “Why did you leave?” Naruto asked.

“Ah, ah.” The older boy said with a wag of his finger. “I made the fire and caught the fish, so it’s only fair that you tell the first story. Before that though, we need to know what to call each other, right? So, what’s your name kid?”

Naruto looked a little sheepish since he hadn’t realized that he didn’t even know the name of the person who had helped him, but answered energetically. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto, seven years old, and the future Hokage of Konoha-crap!” He slapped his hand over his mouth. He definitely hadn’t meant to add that last part, but old habits were hard to break.

The stranger smiled slightly at Naruto’s proud declaration. “I guess that saves me the time of asking where you came from.” Naruto removed his hand from his mouth and rubbed his head sheepishly as the other boy continued. “Well, Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage. My name is Jagaa. Just Jagaa. I’m also seventeen years old, and,” the young man took on a noble pose and declared proudly. “The most badass mother fucker you’ll ever meet!”

Naruto stared at the teen in silence. Not sure how to process that last part.

“Hmm, tough crowd.” Jagaa muttered.

The younger blond decided the best thing to do would be to just ignore the comment and opted to instead ask a question that had entered his mind during Jagaa’s introduction. “So, why don’t you have a clan name? Did something happen?”

Jagaa looked down and shook his head slightly, and Naruto could have sworn he saw a sad smile pass his lips. “That’s a story for another day, kid.” When Jagaa looked back up all traces of the sadness that Naruto thought he had seen was gone. “Speaking of stories, why don’t you tell me yours over a roasted fish?” Jagaa plucked one of the sticks out of the ground and handed the freshly cooked food to the eager boy. Naruto took it gratefully and quickly took a large bite, only to immediately start choking on a bone.

“Take it slow, kid.” Jagaa said as patted Naruto on the back. ”Don’t make me have wasted my time making the fire because you went and died choking on a fish bone.”

Naruto laughed painfully as the bone was dislodged from his throat and, when he took his next bite, was very careful to be mindful of the dangerous little things.

“So, going off your self-introduction, you’re from Konoha, right?” Naruto nodded at Jagaa’s question. “So why did you leave? It seems like it would make it a little hard to accomplish your goal doesn’t it?” Jagaa was observing the boy carefully as he asked his question, and was a little worried when he noticed the boy’s happy eyes dim as a painful sadness filled them.

“I...I just…I had to get away from it…If only for a while.” Naruto said sadly. Jagaa made no comment as he waited for the boy to continue. Naruto saw Jagaa’s patient silence and took a little comfort in it. The older boy was letting him explain at his own pace. Taking a deep breath, Naruto spoke again. “All my life, the villagers have glared at me, called me names, even…beat me. They were always calling me things like Monster or Freak, and they wouldn’t let their kids play with me so I never had any friends. I wasn’t allowed into most stores or food places, and would sometimes throw rocks at me, or spit on me as I walked by. I have been beaten more times than I can remember, and sometimes I think I might have died if those masked guy’s hadn’t saved me.” As Naruto finished he hugged himself to his knees and stared into the fire. “I just needed to get away.” He whispered.

“…I can see why.” Jagaa said in a low tone as he too watched the dancing flames. “What I don’t understand though, is why you want to be the Hokage of a place like that. If I understand it right, a Kage is supposed to protect the people of his village even if it costs him his life. Why would you want to do that for a village that has caused you so much pain?”

“To show them they were wrong!” Naruto’s answer compelled Jagaa to turn back to the boy, and he was amazed to find a fierce determination shining in his eyes. “I’ll show them that I’m not worthless, that I’m not some sort of monster! I’ll become the strongest in the entire village and make them all respect me!” Naruto looked at Jagaa with unwavering resolve. After a few moments of staring at each other Jagaa started chuckling softly, earning him a confused stare from Naruto.

“That’s one hell of a goal you got there, kid. What will you do if it doesn’t work though? What if, even after you become the Hokage, they still don’t respect you? Will you still be able to protect them?” Even though Naruto couldn’t see Jagaa’s eyes, he could almost feel the intensity of his gaze through them.

Naruto met that gaze with his own, his determination never wavering. “I will! Even if they still hate me, I’ll keep trying! No matter how long it takes, I’ll keep trying and one day I’ll change their minds!”

Jagaa held Naruto’s gaze for a moment before smiling. “Good answer, but I think you still have a long way to go before you get there. So, would you like some help?” Naruto looked incredulously at Jagaa who never lost his smile.

“If you want, you’re welcome to travel with me.” Jagaa said to the shell shocked boy. “I’ll teach you what I can as we go and may even be able to find some people who would be willing to teach you what I can’t. You’ll also be able to see the world and learn about the different cultures and ideals of the other nations. A useful thing to know as a Hokage, don’t you think? Of course when you feel you’re ready to go home, I’ll take you back to Konoha. It would be hard for you to become the Hokage otherwise, right?” Jagaa was trying to gauge the boy’s reaction to his offer, but Naruto was staring into space in a dumbstruck gaze. “Uh, Kid? Naruto?”

The next thing Jagaa knew he was tackled by a mass of sunny-blond hair that started hugging him tightly and screaming “Thank You” repeatedly at the top of his lungs. Jagaa’s surprised expression changed and a soft, barely visible smile came to his lips. “No problem, kid, but if you’re going to be traveling with me, you need to get some sleep. It’s really late already and I like to start moving early so-” Jagaa didn’t get to finish as Naruto launched off him and resumed his place that he had woken up in. With one more yell of thanks he closed his eyes and seemed to be trying to force himself to sleep.

Jagaa laughed silently to himself at the boy’s antics, while at the same time wondering just what he may have gotten himself into.

X X X X X

The scarred man sat silently as the fire turned to glowing red embers and listened to the rather loud snoring coming from the boy across from him. For someone who seemed to be bursting with energy as he tackled Jagaa, Naruto sure had fallen asleep in record time. Jagaa couldn’t hold back the low chuckle that came as he decided that his life was probably about to get far more interesting than he had ever thought possible.

Jagaa’s thoughts then darkened as he remembered just what the kid had told him. It had taken all the will power he had not to show how angry the village’s treatment of Naruto had made him. Hell, he had only talked to him for around twenty minutes and he could already tell that the boy was practically the incarnation of kindness. For anyone to be able to willingly harm a boy like him…

Jagaa shook his head to clear away the path his thoughts were leading him down. He had already promised that he would help the boy achieve his dream. That meant that he would have to one day take him back to the village, no matter how much he felt that a village like that didn’t deserve someone like Naruto in it. He decided he would think more on the matter later. Right now he had something to take care of.

With another quick examination to make sure Naruto was still asleep, Jagaa stood up from his spot on the ground and walked into the darkened forest. Once he was about one hundred meters from camp he spoke to the surrounding trees. “You know, it’s not polite to spy on people. So how about you quit hiding and show yourself?”

A swirl of leaves erupted about twenty feet in front of him before dying away to reveal a man with gravity defying hair and wearing a porcelain dog mask.

“So, you knew I was there all along, huh?” Kakashi said in a partially congratulatory tone.

“Don’t sound so impressed. It might be flattering if you had actually been _trying_ to hide, but as it stands it’s somewhat insulting.” Jagaa said and crossed his scarred arms.

“Ah, sorry about that. I didn’t realize you were good at sensing chakra.” Kakashi apologized and scratched the back of his head.

“Why don’t you cut the bullshit and tell me why you’re here.” Jagaa said in a no nonsense tone. “I’ll warn you now that if you’re here to take Naruto back to Konoha, I’ll be inclined to stop you. If even half of what that kid said is true then that village is the last place he should be.”

Kakashi raised his hands in a placating manner. “I agree, as does the Hokage.” Kakashi’s statement caused Jagaa to raise an eyebrow over his glasses.

“If that’s the case, then why are you here?”

“The Hokage wanted to make sure that Naruto was safe. So he sent me to watch over him and protect him from the shadows until I deemed him such. Like someone taking him in, for example.” He tilted his head, and Jagaa was sure that the man was smiling beneath his dog mask.

“Well, since you already heard my conversation with the kid, which ended about an hour ago by the way, why are you still here?”

Kakashi casually put his hands in his pockets while still facing Jagaa. “Saying you’ll protect someone, and actually meaning to do it, are two different things.” He said in a much more serious tone than he had been using.

“I see.” Jagaa said with his arms still crossed in front of him. “So you mean to find out if I’m a man of my word?”

“Yep.” Kakashi answered with a carefree tone. The wind blew through the forest carrying leaves and dust as the two stood facing each other.

In a flash of movement and ring of steel, the space between the two closed, and Kakashi was a bit surprised to find a three foot Ninjato at the side of his neck, even as he held a kunai to Jagaa’s chest. The two stood in that position for a while longer before simultaneously withdrawing their weapons and taking a step back from each other.

“Hatake Kakashi, nice to meet you.” Kakashi introduced himself with a hidden smile.

“Jagaa, but you already knew that.” Jagaa replied, lowering his blade to his side.

“Hmm,” Kakashi smiled. “It looks like you weren’t lying after all. So I’ll just be going now.” Kakashi turned to leave but stopped as he remembered something. “By the way, I noticed you seem to be a loner, but if Naruto’s dream is to become the Hokage he is going to need to understand the value of teamwork.”

“Don’t worry about that. I may like to fight alone, but I know that everyone needs help sometimes. Hell, I would probably have been killed already if I didn’t.” Jagaa did his own turn and started walking back to where Naruto was but stopped and looked over his shoulder after a few steps. “You know, I have to wonder what is wrong with your villagers if they can willingly attack someone like Naruto. The boy practically radiates kindness and caring. Would you like to explain why he has been the target of such hate all his life?”

“Unfortunately I can’t. It’s an ‘S’ class secret punishable by death to reveal it without the Hokage’s permission. Which I don’t have. If you want to know, you will have to ask the Hokage directly. I _can_ tell you that it was in no way Naruto’s fault…or his choice.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you if you had said otherwise. The kid’s just too innocent to have willingly done something to make people hate him.” Jagaa said, his tone firm.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. “I’m sure you’ll be told all about it once you return to Konoha. Until then, please take care of Naruto.” The other man nodded silently to which Kakashi nodded in response and leaves began to circle around him. “Oh, and when you get back, I’d very much like to spar with you again.” His friendly tone was carried on the wind as the man disappeared.

Jagaa looked at the spot Kakashi had been standing for a moment, and then slowly raised his blade in front of him where he silently examined it before a small smile came to his lips. “…interesting.” Sliding his blade back into its sheath, the man turned and walked back toward the fire and his new traveling companion.

X X X X X

Sarutobi Hiruzen could only stare incredulously at the most skilled Jounin under his command as the man finished lazily giving his report. “And you just _left_ _him_!? With a man you had only spoken to for _five minutes_!?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama.” Kakashi said easily.

The aged Hokage took several calming breaths as he fought his desire to jump over his own desk and strangle the silver haired man. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done, Kakashi? You’ve left a boy, who has the most powerful bijuu in existence locked inside him, with a man, another _shinobi_ , who’s allegiance and motives you don’t even know. What if he turns Naruto against Konoha? Or worse. Into a living weapon?”

“He won’t.” Kakashi replied, his voice losing its lazy quality and becoming more serious. Almost defiant.

Sarutobi locked his eyes with Kakashi’s single, visible eye. “And how can you be sure?”

“Because we crossed blades.”

The Hokage was visibly taken aback by the statement. “You could read his heart? Someone you had only just met?”

Kakashi shook his head. “Not fully. No. However, when our blades crossed in that single instant, it was as if…I were crossing blades with a best friend. I felt something like…a familiarity. I just knew that he wasn’t lying. That he was going to protect Naruto.” Kakashi paused, his eye going distant. “It was as if my soul itself were telling me that he was a person I could trust.”

Sarutobi was silent for some time, his thoughts wrapping around what he had just been told. Finally, he spoke in a low, serious voice. “Do you understand what could happen if you’re wrong, Kakashi?”

The Jounin stared back at his leader, his tone laced with firm conviction. “I’m not wrong.”

Silence once again filled the air, but it did not last long as the Sandaime leaned back in his chair, lowering his head in acceptance. “Very well. You’re dismissed, Kakashi.” The silver haired man saluted silently and vanished in a swirl of leaves. With a sigh, the old man stood, looking out the widow and over the lit village. He knew that he shouldn’t be allowing this. He knew he should be sending out an ANBU squad to get Naruto away from the unknown man, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He wanted to believe. No. He _needed_ to believe in the feeling that Kakashi had experienced. He had to believe that he really was doing the best thing for the boy. He had to believe that this was all being guided by fate.

Sarutobi shifted his eyes from the glowing village to the darkened sky above. “I hope I’m doing the right thing for you, Naruto.”


	2. Hell of a first day back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been four years and Naruto is ready to come return with his highly overprotective mentor in tow. Time to meet some old friends, make some new ones, and maybe start a rivalry or two along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I mentioned before, this was originally three separate chapters that I condensed into one. It is a big jump in word count compared to the prior chap, but not too far off the length of coming chapters. Hope you enjoy it.

“Seriously though, do you really want to go back already? It’s only been, what, four years? Why are you so dead set on going back so soon?” Jagaa asked the young boy next to him.

In four years not much had changed about Jagaa. The dirty blond still wore all black and the hilt of his sword still stuck out over his right shoulder. With one of his scarred arms, he reached up and adjusted his dark sunglasses to sit more comfortably.

“I have to graduate from the academy to be a Konoha ninja, Nii-san. So I have to go back now or I won’t be able to graduate with kids my own age.” Naruto answered.

Whereas Jagaa had changed very little, the same could not be said about Naruto. The boy’s sunny blonde hair was much longer than it had been before, with his bangs falling just over the top of his eyes and the back being pulled into a small ponytail that stopped just above his shoulder blades. He wore a pair of black combat boots, much the same as Jagaa’s, and a pair of dark blue shinobi pants with a black kunai pouch strapped to his right leg. A plain black T-shirt, underneath a dark blue jacket that was left open in the front and had the sleeves cut off, covered his upper body and on his hands was a pair of fingerless black gloves with a metal plate on the back of them.

However, despite his somewhat ‘Badass’ appearance,his eyes still sparkled with a kindness that few people could possess and his foxy grin was still as bright as ever between his whisker marked cheeks.

“We are talking about the same kids that treated you like dirt when you were there, right? Why would you want to graduate with them anyway?”

“Because, it would be my first step in proving them all wrong about me.” Naruto said seriously. “If I can show the kids who picked on me that I’m not the loser they thought I was then maybe I’ll even be able to show the rest of the village that I’m not the monster they say I am.”

Jagaa sighed. They had been having the same conversation for the last three days. Jagaa had grown extremely fond of the young boy in the years they had been traveling together, even coming to think of him as the little brother he had never had. In fact, during their travels Naruto had managed to make a great number of friends and acquaintances that Jagaa would not have thought possible. The boy just had this aura that seemed to draw people to him like a light in the darkness.

That was why Jagaa wasn’t all that thrilled about taking Naruto back to a place that treated him like some sort of plague. If he hadn’t promised the boy that he would take him back when he was ready, Jagaa would have knocked him out and took him to snow country or something. Anyplace would be better than Konoha. Alas, Jagaa was a man of his word and could do nothing more than try to talk Naruto out of it. Too bad the kid was as stubborn as a mule.

“Nii-san, we’re almost there!” Naruto exclaimed in excitement.

“Great.” Jagaa replied in a tone that was decidedly  _ not _ .

“Oh come on, Nii-san. It won’t be that bad.” Naruto reproved.

Jagaa looked less than convinced. “Whatever brat. By the way, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“Why?” Naruto asked. “Isn't it okay for me to call my Nii-san, Nii-san?”

“Exactly when was this ‘Nii-san’ thing decided on? I sure as hell wasn’t there for the meeting.” Jagaa really didn’t mind that Naruto called him that, especially since he  _ did _ already think of the boy like a little brother, he just wanted to see if he could make Naruto sweat a little. Too bad he forgot about one of Naruto’s ultimate secret weapons.

Naruto’s eyes widened and started to tear up slightly, while his bottom lip started quivering in a powerfully heart wrenching display of puppy dog eyes that made Jagaa step back slightly. “Y-you mean, you don’t w-want to be my Nii-san?” Naruto’s voice cracked slightly, and a tear looked about to fall from the corner of his eye.

“Okay, okay, you win!” Jagaa yelled as he crossed his arms in front of him defensively. “Just stop doing that!”

Naruto smirked triumphantly. “I knew you wanted to be my Nii-san, Nii-san.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Just remind me to kill Hitomi the next time I see her for teaching you her damned ‘Puppy eyes no Jutsu”.”

“You would never hurt her and you know it, Nii-san.”

“She doesn’t need to know that though.”

“She already does.”

“…Damn.”

Naruto smiled and looked back up the road. He let out an excited gasp when he realized he could already see the gate guards. “We’re finally here!” Naruto yelled happily. “I can’t wait to eat Ichiraku’s ramen again!”

Jagaa didn’t reply, instead he focused on the two guards at the village gate. As soon as Naruto had started yelling about ramen both their gazes had zeroed in on the happy blond, and it didn’t take a genius to know that they weren’t pleased with what they saw.

“Stop right there!” The closest guard said sneeringly. “Just what do you think  _ you _ are doing back here?”

Naruto’s happy smile faltered slightly but was back too quickly for most people to notice. The young blond was about to say something, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Naruto just came back from an extended training trip.” Jagaa said in a cool tone. “He’s here so that he can finish the academy and become a Konoha Genin.”

“What makes you think we want that  _ thing _ as a ninja for Konoha?” The second guard snarled.

Jagaa’s eyes narrowed dangerously behind his glasses and his tone became dark. “I couldn’t give a shit if  _ you _ want him here or not.  _ He _ wants to be a Konoha ninja, and _ I _ plan on making sure he becomes one.”

The first guard was sneering even more than before. “Oh, and what if we decide that we won’t let you through the gate, huh?”

Jagaa’s expression became downright sinister and an evil smile came to his lips even as his hand started moving to his sword. “I’m  _ so _ glad you asked.”

“Now, now, Jagaa-san. Is killing the gate guards really the wisest thing to do on your first day in Konoha?” A bored sounding voice came from off to the side.

Naruto, Jagaa, and the two guards looked to where the voice came from to see a tall silver haired man in a standard Konoha Jounin uniform wearing a mask that covered the bottom half of his face and his hitai-ate pulled down over his left eye. His right eye was curled into an upside down ‘U’ that seemed to say he was smiling beneath his mask.

Jagaa smiled as soon as he saw him. “Hatake Kakashi, eh? I didn’t think I would see you so soon after we got here.”

“I know you!” Naruto suddenly yelled in surprise. “You were the guy in the dog mask right?”

Kakashi smiled at Naruto and nodded. “Yep, that was me. I’m surprised you figured it out so quickly though.”

“Oh please.” Jagaa scoffed. “The only real difference between the dog mask and the way you look now is that your right eye is visible. At least get a haircut if you don’t want people to figure it out.”

“Kakashi-san,” The first guard spoke up finally. “Do you know this… _ person _ ?” The guard’s pause said plainly that he wanted to call Jagaa something else, and even an idiot could tell it would have been a reference about Naruto.

“Why, yes.” Kakashi said warmly. “He’s the person Hokage-sama entrusted to take care of Naruto while he was away from the village.”

“I thought  _ you _ decided on that? Isn’t that what your little test was all about?” Jagaa asked.

Kakashi shrugged. “Hokage-sama told me to make sure Naruto would be safe. So in a way leaving Naruto with you was his decision. I was just making sure you were the person I should trust.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

If anyone had been looking at the two guards, they would have noticed that their faces had paled at the mention of the Hokage and had steadily been getting paler as the conversation continued.

“At any rate, Hokage-sama will be pleased to find out you’re back, Naruto. What do you say we go to the Hokage tower and see him?”

“YATTA!” Naruto yelled, jumping off the ground and pumping his fist into the air. “I finally get to see the old man again! The first thing I’m gonna do is have him treat me to some ramen!”

Kakashi smiled fondly behind his mask. It was good to see that Naruto was still Naruto. “Well, shall we get going then?”

“Why don’t you two go on ahead?” Jagaa said and turned back to the guards. “I still have something I want to talk to these two about.” Jagaa was about to start walking to the still pale guards when he was suddenly jerked backwards and straight onto his backside. Feeling a grip on the back of his vest, he tilted his head back and found himself facing Naruto’s narrowed eyes. “Can I help you?”

“Oh no you don’t, Nii-san.” Naruto said sternly. “The last time you told me to go on ahead so you could ‘talk’ to someone, I saw that guys face on a missing persons poster two days later.”

“I wasn’t gonna kill them.” Jagaa said. “I was just going to  _ almost _ kill them. You know, beat them to within an inch of their life.”

Despite the fact he was getting reprimanded by an eleven year old, the matter of fact way Jagaa said that made the two guards pale considerably more.

Naruto rolled his eyes and started walking while still holding on to the back of Jagaa’s vest. “Let’s go, Nii-san.”

“Aren’t students supposed to listen to their Sensei and not interfere with their fun?” Jagaa said sullenly and crossed his arms.

“Not when that Sensei’s fun is going to make it harder for the student to accomplish his dream.” Naruto said dangerously.

Jagaa only ‘hmmphed’ and turned his head to the side.

Kakashi’s eye twinkled as he tried to hold in his laughter at the rather comical sight of an eleven year old boy dragging a sulking twenty one year old man through the street. He had a feeling that the village of Konoha was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

X X X X X

“OJII-SAN!” Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs and jumped over the desk and into the arms of a very surprised old man. “I’ve missed you!”

“N-Naruto-kun? Is that really you?” Sarutobi asked in disbelief. However, there was no mistaking that foxy smile he was flashed with as soon as he asked.

“That’s right, Ojii-san, I’m back!” Naruto had dropped his voice somewhat but it was still enough to make the old Hokage flinch a little at the volume. Even still, his happy smile never left his face.

“It’s good to have you back, Naruto-kun. But I’m a little surprised to see you back this soon.”

“See, I told you we should have waited a few more years. Since the old man agrees with me, let’s get the hell out here.” Jagaa said as he walked in behind Kakashi.

Sarutobi was a little surprised by Jagaa’s appearance. Kakashi had told him that the person he had left Naruto with was young, but he didn’t expect him to be  _ this _ young. Still, the visible scars on his body and the relaxed but guarded way he carried himself showed clearly that the young man was no stranger to battle. The other surprising thing was the way the young man seemed to have no fear or apprehension about being in his presence. Despite his progressing in age, even the most seasoned shinobi had been respectful and somewhat cautious in dealing with him. But this one walked right in, calling him an old man in much the same way Naruto would. For some reason, Sarutobi found it refreshing.

“Now, now, I didn’t say that. I simply said I was surprised.” The old Hokage said with a chuckle. “In fact, this is a perfect time for Naruto to come back. Now he can finish off his training at the academy and graduate with people his own age.”

“Ha!” Naruto exclaimed, jumping out of the Hokage’s grip and onto his desk before pointing at Jagaa. “I told you it was a good idea, Nii-san!”

“Whatever brat. More importantly,” Jagaa focused on the old man sitting behind the desk Naruto was standing on. “Are you really the strongest person in this village? You seem like you could drop dead at any moment now.”

The effect was instantaneous. Kakashi started choking on air, Naruto’s eyes widened, the pipe fell out of the old man's mouth, and a loud thud implied that an eavesdropper may have just fainted outside the door.

Jagaa looked around the room curiously at all of their reactions. “What?”

For a while the room was completely silent, but soon after a low chuckling was heard. Looking to the source, they saw the old Hokage with his head tilted downwards and his shoulders shaking in sync with the chuckling. It didn’t take long before the chuckling turned into full blown laughter leaving three very confused bystanders.

“I should have known,” The old man said through his laughter, “That Naruto would meet someone even more blunt and outspoken than him.” Sarutobi wiped his eyes as his laughter slowly died down. He decided right then that he liked this young man.

When his mirth finally faded away, the aged Hokage turned back to Naruto, who had yet to get off his desk. “I’m very glad you’re back, Naruto-kun. It’s been a bit boring here without you.”

Naruto gave him one of his biggest grins ever.

“Well, since the two of you arrived so early in the morning we could most likely get you into school today if that’s what you wanted Naruto.”

“YATTA! Let’s go! Let’s go now!” Naruto yelled and jumped up and down excitedly.

His cheering and jumping was cut off by a fist slamming on to the top of his head as Jagaa stood over him, standing on the Hokage’s desk just like Naruto, with an irritated expression. “How many times do I have to tell not to yell all the time?” He growled as Naruto rubbed the lump that was forming from the impact.

Sarutobi and Kakashi just smiled in amusement.

X X X X X

“So what am I doing here again? He’s the one who wants to go here, not me.” Jagaa said as he, Naruto, Kakashi, and the Hokage walked through the halls of Konoha’s shinobi academy.

“Wouldn’t you like to have a better understanding of what sort of environment and curriculum Naruto will be trained in while going to this academy?” Sarutobi asked the irritated young man.

“Not really, no.”

“You know, Nii-san, most  _ other _ Sensei would  _ want _ to see how their students will be trained when they’re not around.” Naruto said pointedly.

“Well, most students aren’t as big a pain in the ass as you.” Jagaa countered with a slight growl in his voice.

“Would it really kill you to at least try to support me on my decision to finish off the academy?” Naruto almost whined.

“I decided that it would be best if I didn’t take any chances on that.”

“You’re an asshole, Nii-san!”

“I know. I’ve been working at it for years.”

“You know, you really-” Naruto’s remark was cut off by a loud shout coming from the other side of the classroom door.

“Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino Pig!”

“Why? It’s obvious he would rather be with me than someone who could rent themselves out as a walking advertisement, Billboard Brow.”

“I’m sure he’d like me better than livestock, Piggy!”

“I dare you to say that again, Forehead Girl!”

The next instant there was a clatter of chairs falling over followed by shouts of encouragement and people placing bets.

“BOTH OF YOU STOP FIGHTING THIS INSTANT!” A man yelled with a voice level that only a teacher could reach.

“It seems we arrived at an interesting time.” Sarutobi said with a good natured chuckle as he opened the classroom door.

As the new arrivals walked into the classroom the first thing they saw was a brown haired Chuunin trying without much success to pry a platinum blonde haired girl off of a pink haired one.

“This place might not be so bad after all.” Jagaa mused thoughtfully.

The sound of the unfamiliar voice somehow managed to cut through the class room and draw everyone’s attention to the two blonds standing in the front of the class. A collective gasp came from the girls of the class when they saw Naruto, many of them with little hearts in their eyes.

“Why?” Naruto asked suspiciously. “Because of the fact the students here seem ready to fight at the drop of a hat, or because you were getting off on seeing two girls hanging on each other?”

Jagaa looked highly affronted by Naruto’s accusation. “The girls in this class are your age you dumb ass. I’m not a fucking pedophile.”

Naruto looked skeptical. “I don’t know. There was that one girl in Kiri.”

“Okay, first, that girl looked well into her twenties and there is no way I could have known she was only fifteen! Second, we never did anything cause I got away real quick once I did know!” Jagaa defended fiercely. “And third, that was three years ago. Even if she was underage then, she’d be perfectly…legal…now…” Jagaa’s expression became one of someone who had just had a divine revelation before he snapped his head to Naruto and spoke quickly. “I just remembered I have something to do in Kiri!” Jagaa turned to run out the door when a large object slammed into the back of his knees dropping him to the floor. Shaking his head and looking over his shoulder he found that Naruto had full body tackled his legs and was now planted firmly on top of them.

“Hell no! There’s no way you’re ditching me now just so you can go chase some girl in another country!” Naruto growled.

“Why do you care? You wanted to go to the academy anyway so you don’t need me around for a while.” Jagaa protested.

“You promised that you would stay with me and keep training me even while I was going to the academy remember!” Naruto grated.

Jagaa sighed remorsefully. “I couldn’t have found a puppy, Nnnnooooooo. I just had to find a prudish little boy who has to be the biggest killjoy on the face of the earth!”

“Get over it.”

Jagaa suddenly pushed up off the ground picking Naruto up with him. With a sharp twist Jagaa flipped over and sat up, while still in the air, at the same time he pulled his right foot back under him and slammed his palms into Naruto’s chest. Naruto was shot backwards and rolled across the floor until he came to an abrupt stop by smashing into the wall.

“Ow.” Naruto groaned and rubbed his head. “That was a cheap shot.”

Jagaa was still sitting on his bent right leg with his left leg and both arms still extended in front of him. With a graceful ease, he pushed up with his one foot on the floor and pulled his other leg back and so he was standing again, a smirk dancing on his lips. “Get over it.”

Naruto growled.

Iruka and the other students could only stare with open mouths at the pair before them.

“You two certainly know how to make an entrance.” The Hokage laughed at the blond duo.

The Hokage’s voice served to snap Iruka out of his stunned stupor and he cleared his throat loudly to get the class's attention. “Yes, well, it seems we have a new student in our midst today.” He took a quick glance at the Hokage for confirmation. At the old man's nod, he turned back to Naruto. “Would you care to introduce yourself to the class?” Iruka said to the still floored boy.

Naruto made a miraculous recovery and jumped into the front of the classroom. “Hey, everyone, the name’s Uzumaki Naruto! I’m eleven years old, and the future Hokage of Konoha! Nice to meet you all!”

Jagaa groaned and rubbed his temples. “I thought I broke you out of the habit of telling everyone you were gonna be the Hokage every time you introduced yourself when we were in Kumo?”

Naruto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. “Heheh, I guess I’m just excited to be home.” He said with a slight flush of his cheeks. The action had a rather surprising reaction on the females of the class.

“KAWAII!” All the girls, except the blonde and pink haired girls that were fighting earlier though even they looked like they were seriously fighting the urge, screamed in unison and launched themselves at the very surprised blonde. The glomping that ensued was one of legends as girls piled on top of each other in an attempt to get to the boy beneath them.

A good natured chuckling suddenly came up from beneath the pile of girls and everyone looked down in shock to see the aged face of the Hokage just visible. “Well, it has been a while since I was glomped by such attractive young ladies.” The old man said with a smile. “But it is getting somewhat hard to breath. So would you all mind allowing this old man to get up?” The girls had to have set a new speed record in their haste to get themselves off the village’s leader.

As the old man stood back up, a loud laughter filled the air and everyone looked over to see Naruto rolling on the ground holding his sides. “I…I can’t…believe you…replaced yourself…with…the old man!” Naruto wheezed out as he laughed.

“I can’t believe you replaced yourself with  _ me _ , you little bastard!” Jagaa said heatedly from next to Kakashi. Naruto started laughing harder and Jagaa glared at him. Kakashi was using every ounce of willpower he had not to join the sunny blond. Seriously, how often does one see the most powerful man in the village get used as a replacement and then glomped? It was certainly a first for him.

Still chuckling, the aged Hokage stood back up and dusted himself off. “Well, that was interesting. However, I think it’s time that we allow the class to get back underway, as well as let Naruto get acquainted with academy life.” The Hokage finished and looked over at Naruto who was just starting to stand again after his fit of hysterics.

“Uh, yes, of course Hokage-sama.” Iruka said hastily. “Naruto, your seat will be the open one back there.” Iruka pointed to one of the open seats towards the back of the classroom.”

“Ossu!” Naruto saluted and practically sprinted to his seat excitedly. He was really looking forward to what he would be learning at a real ninja academy.

“Shall we be going then?” The Hokage asked Jagaa and Kakashi.

“Just one thing before I go.” Jagaa said. “I just wanted to know what sort of things Naruto will be learning in this academy.” This surprised the three who he had come to the academy with, having heard his earlier statement of lack of caring.

Iruka looked at the Hokage for the okay before speaking. “Well…Monday through Thursday we do class work where we learn about things like the basics of chakra, different types of Jutsus, Kekkei Genkais and how to identify different ones, the history of Konoha and it’s Hokages, ect. Then on Fridays we do practical applications such as sparring and practicing with kunai and shuriken.”

“WHAT!” The shout drew everyone’s attention to a very pale Naruto. “You mean four out of five days is nothing but  _ class work _ ?!”

“Um, yes?” Iruka said uncertainly.

“NNNOOOOOO!!!!” He wailed, throwing his arms into the air dramatically before smacking his head on his desk and crying waterfall like tears.

“BUAAAHAHAHAHA!” Jagaa laughed evilly earning a hateful glare from the crying boy.

“THIS ISN’T FUNNY, NII-SAN!”

In the blink of an eye, Jagaa was standing beside Naruto and clapping him heartily on the back. “Of course it isn’t. In fact, I can finally understand why you wanted to come here so bad. I mean, really. Why do  _ useless _ things like traveling around the world, learning new jutsu and skills or anything else that may actually save your life in a fight.” Jagaa hadn’t stopped clapping Naruto on the back the entire time. “But hey, who knows, maybe the first person you fight will be so impressed that you can tell him about a bunch of buildings and a few dead guys that he’ll just drop his weapons and ask you to kill him.” Jagaa’s grin looked like it was going to split his face, while Naruto’s glare could have melted steel.

“You know I’m not dead yet.” The Hokage said from the doorway.

“You’re close enough.” Jagaa waved dismissively. Iruka and the rest of the class gasped in shock at Jagaa’s blatant disrespect of the village leader.

“Well, I’m going to do some of those useless things I just mentioned while you learn how to ‘WOW’ your enemies with your knowledge. Have fun Naruto.” Jagaa was laughing maniacally as he headed for the door.

“No, wait, take me with you!” Naruto screamed and jumped after Jagaa, only to be caught in the air by a stern looking Iruka.

“Naruto! You can’t skip class on your first day! That’s just plain rude!”

“That’s right Naruto, you shouldn’t be rude to your new sensei.” Jagaa said with an evil grin as he rounded the corner. “Have fun learning about dead guys.”

“Still not dead.” Sarutobi muttered.

“You Bastard! You evil, evil Bastard!” Naruto snarled as he struggled against Iruka’s hold. “I’m gonna write letters to every one night stand you’ve ever had and tell them where to find you!”

Standing next to Kakashi, the Hokage was chuckling merrily at the antics of the two blonds. “It would seem things are going to become quite interesting around here now. Don’t you think, Kakashi?”

Kakashi’s eye curved in a smile. “I thought the same thing myself earlier, Hokage-sama.”

“Let’s be on our way then, shall we.” The old man said as he turned away, leaving Naruto, who had gone back to crying waterfall tears, to become acquainted with his new classmates.

“So, how do you think Naruto will do in the academy, Hokage-sama?” Kakashi asked boredly.

“I suppose that all depends on what Jagaa has taught him in the last four years. Oh, speak of the devil. He seems to have been waiting for us.” The old man indicated the figure leaning against the wall in front of them with a tilt of his head.

“Jagaa-san, it’s good to see you’re still here. I was wondering what you have been teaching Naruto in the last…” Sarutobi trailed off when he noticed the atmosphere around Jagaa was nothing like the relaxed, playful one that had surrounded him before. The seriousness and the intensity were surprisingly intimidating and fully dispelled any illusions that Jagaa was anything less than a hardened shinobi.

“Four years ago I asked a question. Now, I want the answer.” He said in a cool tone. The old man sighed. He knew that this was going to happen, but he had hoped that Jagaa might wait a couple days before questioning him about why the villagers hated Naruto. Sarutobi had a strong feeling Jagaa wouldn’t take it too well. Now that it had been brought up though, there could be no more delay.

“I understand.” The aged Hokage said in a low tone as he walked by. “But we will have to go back to my office to discuss it. It  _ is _ an S class secret after all.”

Jagaa nodded and fell in next to the Hokage and Kakashi in their return to the Tower.

X X X X X 

Jagaa was  _ pissed _ . No, he was beyond pissed. He was straight up  _ murderous _ , and everybody in the Hokage tower knew it. The old Hokage was fairly sure that everybody in  _ Konoha _ probably knew with the amount of killing intent the young man was putting out. Sarutobi even noticed that Kakashi was looking a bit apprehensive at the pure rage radiating from Jagaa. He couldn’t fault the young man though. In truth, he had held similar feelings on the subject many times before, but seemed to have much better restraint than the scarred person in front of him.

“So,” Jagaa said dangerously, “You’re telling me, that Naruto has been beaten, abused, starved, shunned, and treated like a plague by the people of this village…for being the one that has saved their lives everyday for the last eleven years by being made a sacrifice to contain the Kyuubi? Something he had  _ no _ say in, considering he was a fucking  _ baby _ when it happened?”

Sarutobi almost didn’t want to answer out of fear of what Jagaa may try to do, but was  _ almost _ certain that he and Kakashi could restrain the pissed off young man if they had to. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“I see.” Jagaa’s killing intent intensified for just a moment before Jagaa started taking long deep breaths and it slowly began fading away. Once it was completely gone, he made a long sigh. “I’ll never understand why Naruto wants to protect this village full of idiots.” Jagaa said while shaking his head in confusion.

Sarutobi smiled fondly. “That’s just the way he is.” He was more than a little relieved that Jagaa had calmed his rage for Naruto’s sake. 

Kakashi cleared his throat lightly, catching both the Hokage’s and Jagaa’s attention. “Well, Hokage-sama, since it seems Jagaa won’t be going on a killing spree, now might be a good time to ask him about what Naruto has learned in the last four years.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me of that, Kakashi.” Nodded before turning to Jagaa, “Would you please tell us just what sort of things you have taught Naruto during his time with you?”

Jagaa shrugged his okay before rubbing his chin in thought. “Well…the first half a year or so was focused mainly on developing his ability to use chakra. I found out early on that the brat had a ridiculous chakra capacity for someone his age, and over the years it has only been increasing. At a rough guess, I would say he has at least double the capacity of most seasoned Jounin, and with the rate it seems to be increasing, it could be nearly triple by the time he graduates from the academy in a year.”

“Hmm,” Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully with his pipe in his mouth. “This is probably due to having the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed within him. It was bound to have some sort of effect on him.”

“It makes sense, I guess.” Jagaa continued. “However, whether it is due to the Kyuubi again, like you said, or if it’s the size of his chakra capacity itself, Naruto’s control just plain sucks.”

“How so?” Kakashi asked.

“He can’t do small jutsu. They just won’t work. It used to be that in an attempt to make a single  _ Bunshin _ Naruto would put out enough chakra to make at least ten  _ Mizu Bunshin _ . He simply couldn’t tone it down. Over the years I have had him do every chakra control exercise I can think of. From tree and water walking, to keeping a stick standing straight up on top of your head and a rock balanced on top of it through chakra. It has helped, but only to the point that he can cut it down to about three  _ Mizu Bunshins _ . However, due to the finer control required to keep the insubstantial clones together, they still always fail. In the end I had to upgrade to teaching how to do the  _ Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu _ and that turned out just fine.”

“I take it that Naruto is not very good at Genjutsu, then?” Sarutobi asked.

“Pfft, ever try to teach a penguin how to fly? Because I’m pretty sure you would have better luck with that than trying to teach Naruto Genjutsu.”

The old man chuckled at Jagaa’s statement before continuing on. “So we have established that he has high chakra, low control, and knows  _ Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu _ . What other techniques have you taught him?”

Jagaa started stroking his chin again as he thought. “Hmm, let’s see…Well other than the  _ Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu _ I haven’t taught him anything much more than the basics. You know,  _ Henge _ ,  _ Kawarimi _ ,  _ Katon: Goukakyuu _ , and the  _ Doton: Doryuheki _ .”

“Uhm, those last two aren’t part of the basics. Only the  _ Henge _ and  _ Kawarimi _ are, as well as the  _ Bunshin _ in normal cases.” Kakashi pointed out.

Jagaa’s eyebrows rose over his glasses in surprise. “So you teach your students Jutsu to deceive, dodge, and distract, but not to attack or defend?” He asked. “Sounds like half assed teaching to me.”

Kakashi was about to protest but stopped short and put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. “You know, you may have a point. It would make sense to teach them an attack and defensive jutsu. The problem is that most genin don’t have enough chakra to do them before they graduate.”

“So have them doing chakra enhancing exercises in the academy instead of learning about a bunch of dead guys.” Jagaa said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

‘ _ I’m not dead _ .’ Sarutobi thought mournfully before he cleared his throat. “I don’t think this is the time to be discussing the flaws we may have in our training system at the academy. Right now we are talking about what  _ Naruto _ has learned.”

“Like I said, besides those five, I haven’t really taught him any Jutsu. I’m a firm believer in learning through experience, so almost all of our training sessions are sparing and physical conditioning. Because of this, his ability to use surprise, terrain, and strategy in battle is exceptional. He actually has a real knack for it. He’s surprised me on several occasions with some impressive plan he pulled out of his ass. So if you ever plan to fight him, I would highly recommend that you expect the unexpected.”

“Hmm, I actually prefer the term ‘Look underneath the underneath’.” Kakashi said with a smile.

“That’s catchy. I may have to adopt that.”

“We are getting off topic again.” The Hokage said exasperatedly. “So other than those five techniques and what he’s learned of tactics through sparring, you really haven’t taught him all that much then?”

“Not  _ personally _ , no, but who knows what he may have learned from some of the  _ other  _ people we met on our travels.” Jagaa shrugged.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘who knows’? You were his sensei, weren’t you keeping track of everything he was learning?”

“Nope.” Both Sarutobi and Kakashi sweat-dropped. “In fact, I told him straight out not to tell me any techniques he’s learned outside of what I’ve taught him.”

“Why would you do that?” Kakashi asked before the old man.

Jagaa tilted his head at Kakashi in a way that the masked Jounin was almost sure was saying ‘Duh’. “For this exact reason. I can’t tell what I don’t know, and everyone knows that surprise is a Shinobi’s greatest weapon. Just to be on the safe side, I also told him that he wasn’t allowed to use any other techniques he’s learned against me, or anyone other than the one who taught it to him, in a spar until after he became a Genin. I did that for two reasons. One, it keeps his full abilities hidden from the public, and two, it ensures that he doesn’t become so dependent on his large and powerful attacks that he forgets the importance of the basics like so many others do once they learn how to level the land in a single attack.”

Sarutobi could honestly find no fault in the scarred young man's logic. He was well aware that keeping your true abilities secret until a critical time could be the difference between life and death. He also knew first hand what could happen to a powerful shinobi when they relied too much on powerful attacks. He had defeated more than a few by simply letting them waste their chakra on large flashy moves while he used simpler Jutsus or straight taijutsu to conserve his own. “I do understand your motives, Jagaa-san. Still, I am somewhat concerned for what Naruto may have learned without your knowledge.”

“Don’t worry, I'm pretty sure that none of the people we met would have taught him anything…” Jagaa trailed off and grimaced a little. “Well, I’m pretty sure  _ most _ of them wouldn’t have taught him anything dangerous.”

Now Sarutobi felt a small amount of annoyance rising. “Jagaa-san…”

“Oh don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” Jagaa said with a dismissive wave.

The old man sighed and covered his eyes with his hand. If Naruto was rowdy and disrespectful  _ before _ leaving Konoha, it could only have doubled under  _ this _ particular role model. Sarutobi had a feeling he should start fearing for his sanity in the days to come.

“Oh yeah, I should probably mention a couple more things.” Jagaa said. “The first, being to watch out for Naruto’s  _ original _ technique that he developed. It is by far one of the most devastating things I’ve ever encountered. I’ve actually witnessed it lay low at least thirty men at one time before.”

Both Sarutobi and Kakashi’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What sort of technique did he create?” The old man asked in a worried voice.

“Hmm, I could tell you, but I think it’d be more entert…uh, informative, for you to see it first hand.” Jagaa said seriously.

“Hmm, you may have a point.” Sarutobi said thoughtfully. He heard something sounding like a snort and looked up to see Jagaa covering his mouth.

“Excuse me.” Jagaa said calmly and Sarutobi nodded. At least the young man was polite enough to cover his sneezes.

“So, what was the other thing you were going to tell us about?” Kakashi asked.

“Oh yeah, it’s probably not a big deal, but I’ve been honing Naruto’s instincts at sensing danger while he’s sleeping and he’s gotten pretty good at detecting incoming attacks. Now I just need to teach him proportional force for countering instead of overdoing it like he does.”

“What do you mean by ‘overdoing’ it?” Sarutobi asked with a small frown.

“Well…”

X X X X X

Iruka looked in shock at the eraser that was currently impaled by two kunai and surrounded by six more all stuck into the black board behind where he had been standing less than a second ago. With wide eyes he looked, along with the rest of the class, at the golden-blond haired boy who had been sleeping in class before Iruka threw the eraser to awaken him.

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as the entire class stared at him in shock. “Uh, heh heh, oops.”

X X X X X

How long had it been since he’d tasted freedom? Months? Years? An eternity? He didn’t know anymore.

He wanted to feel the sun on his skin and the wind in his hair. He wanted to run through the fields and smell the flowers that grew there.

He wanted his freedom.

‘ _ Soon. _ ’ He thought. It was the only thing keeping him alive. The only thing he could hold on to in this miserable hell he had been sentenced to.

He saw his jailor stand from his place of watch and look across him and the others locked inside this hellish prison. It was time. After enduring the torture for so long, he would finally feel his first taste of salvation again.

“Okay everyone, it’s time for lunch.”

“YATTA! FREEDOM!” Naruto yelled in joy from the back of class as tears of happiness coursed down his cheeks.

“You’ve only been here for three hours!” Iruka snapped at the sunny-blond only to find that said person had already made his escape by diving through an open window. In an instant Iruka was at the same window yelling. “DON’T YOU DARE TRY TO DITCH!” If Naruto heard him, he gave no indication as he rolled around in the grass like a happy puppy. Iruka could only sigh wearily as he watched the boy. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to handle a full year with him

As he lay in the grass with his eyes closed enjoying the feel of the sun and wind, Naruto was having much the same thoughts. Only his were about academy life in general.

‘ _ Kuso, why the hell did I want to go to the academy for a full year? _ ’ He thought dejectedly. In truth he already knew why he had believed it would be a great idea. It was because when he thought of a ‘Ninja Academy’, he thought they would focus more on the ‘Ninja’ part and less on the ‘Academy’ part.

Just his luck that it would be the complete opposite.

The worst part was that if he were to complain to Jagaa about it, the scarred man would probably just laugh at him the same way he had earlier, and then rub it in Naruto’s face that it had been  _ his _ bright idea to go in the first place.

‘ _ Stupid Nii-san! I’ll get him back for ditching me like that if it’s the last thing… _ ’ Suddenly Naruto felt his danger senses going haywire. Not the danger sense that comes from being surrounded by enemy forces. No, this was a far more sinister and deadly force than a thousand Kage level shinobi out for your blood. A terror beyond all imagining.

Fangirls!

“NARUTO-KUN!!!” The terrible war cry of doom rang out.

His eyes snapped open as he rolled backwards just in time to avoid two diving glomps from the front. Coming to his feet he jumped backwards to avoid another two that came from his left and right, and watched them sail in front of him like pouncing animals. His senses alerting him just in time, he ducked another attempted glomping from behind and let the girl pass just over the top of his head. The five original attackers began refocusing on him for their next try and Naruto could sense more of them incoming. Doing the only thing one could do when faced with the horror known as fangirls, Naruto ran for dear life.

His efforts seemed to be in vain as he felt more presences moving to intercept him along with the ones coming up from behind. He was about to be trapped and he knew it. Looking around desperately, he saw a very large tree with no branches for at least twenty feet up the base. Taking a gamble that the girls hadn’t yet learned tree walking, Naruto raced up the base to one of the large lower branches where he perched and looked down like a frightened cat as a horde of girls encircled the trunk. It was then Naruto realized he may have made a mistake, as he saw the girls eyes grow even more impressed and admiring at the display of skill. He almost wanted to cry at his stupidity when they started calling up to him.

“Naruto-kun, come eat with me!”

“No, Naruto-kun, eat with me!”

“Naruto-kun is going to eat with me!”

“Like hell he is! Naruto-kun is eating with me!”

Naruto looked around the tree in a panic. The girls were starting to get a dangerous gleam in their eyes and he was sure it was only a matter of time before they tried to chop the tree down to get to him. Too bad he had picked the one tree with nothing within jumping distance and any attempt to escape would force him to go back to the ground and into the clutches of the frightening females.

Just as he felt all hope was lost, the yells of the girls below silenced and they all turned to look behind them. Curious as to what had diverted their attention, Naruto looked the same way and saw another large group of females, that held all the signs of being fangirls, following behind a raven-haired boy like lost puppies. At the front of this new group were the blonde and pink haired girls that had been fighting when Naruto came into class earlier that day.

Naruto watched warily as the raven haired boy leading the group walked casually up to his current refuge with his hands in his pockets and looked up at Naruto with sharp, piercing eyes. “Your name is Uzumaki, correct?” His voice was low and cool, Naruto noticed idly that the both the girls behind the boy and the ones who had been chasing Naruto himself looked like they were about to swoon just from the sound of it.

“Yeah, and who are you?” Naruto asked with a defensive edge in his voice.

“Uchiha Sasuke, I wish to speak with you.”

Naruto was about to point out that they were, in fact, already talking to each other, but knew that the other boy was essentially telling him to come out of the tree. Naruto wasn’t sure if that was such a great idea considering they were completely surrounded by hormone driven females, but decided to risk it since the girls had quieted simply from the other boy’s presence and were unlikely to attack. Besides, he could always run back up the tree…hopefully.

Still being cautious of a possible ambush, Naruto slowly walked down the trunk of the tree to the ground. As he did he noticed the black haired boy’s eyes narrow on him. Naruto was startled to see the amount of anger and resentment that seemed to rise behind them. When he got to the ground and saw for sure that the girls were indeed not attacking he walked up to the Uchiha. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Sasuke’s eyes were still narrow as he sized Naruto up. “I want to fight you.”

Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the Uchiha. “Why?”

“I want to test my strength against yours. Will you fight me or not?” Sasuke’s voice spoke of nothing but cool confidence. His eyes however, were burning with a fierceness Naruto was not expecting. However, if the look was meant to be intimidating, it failed miserably as Naruto felt his battle lust rising.

“Sure, why not.” Naruto said with his own fierce grin. “Besides, Nii-san would kick my ass around Konoha if he found out I backed down from a fight.” Sasuke smirked wider at Naruto’s words and took a few steps back to get some distance.

The crowd that had originally been filled with only girls had also been quickly filling up with the boys of the class who were eager to see the new guy, who seemed to be pretty strong, fight with the number one in the class. When they heard Naruto’s agreement the crowd backed up considerably to give the two boys a large amount of space to fight on.

The two combatants stared at each other across the distance between them, each one trying to find a weakness in the other. A gust of wind blew through the area, stirring up dust and leaves before letting them fall one by one back to the earth. Just as the final leaf touched the ground, the two boys attacked.

The space between them was filled with Kunai and Shuriken that crashed into each other, knocking each other out of the way. As the ring of steel on steel filled the air the two boys charged directly into the falling projectiles and attacked each other head on.

Sasuke’s punch was blocked by Naruto’s forearm even as Sasuke blocked Naruto’s kick with his own. Pulling his leg back Naruto dropped low and swept at Sasuke’s feet but Sasuke back flipped high into the air and threw several more shuriken. Naruto blocked them all with a kunai he quickly pulled out before throwing the weapon at Sasuke as he landed. Sasuke twisted his body so that the kunai just passed his chest and sped at Naruto again even as the blond charged the raven haired boy himself.

The boy’s fists collided with each other and each strove to over power the other. Sasuke quickly realized that Naruto’s brute strength was greater than his own when his arm was being forced back by the blond and dropped his fist causing Naruto to be caught off balance and stumble forward. Stepping to the side and bringing his elbow around, Sasuke aimed for the back of the blond’s head. Naruto realized Sasuke’s goal and instead of trying to stand again, dove forward away from the blow and rolled back to his feet facing Sasuke again. Leaping forward, Naruto struck at Sasuke’s face, but Sasuke once again jumped backwards into the air to avoid it. This time instead of throwing shuriken Sasuke’s hands started flashing through seals. Naruto’s eyes widened when he recognized the sequence and quickly started forming his own seals.

_ “ _ **Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu** !” Sasuke yelled out before exhaling a large fireball from his mouth at Naruto.

“ **Doton: Doryuheki no Justu** !” Naruto shouted and slammed his palms onto the ground creating a large wall of earth in front of him.

Fire met earth and the air filled with the sound of the flames burning whatever vegetation had been in the wall before fizzling out. Sasuke landed and dashed at the wall with several kunai in hand. Just as he expected, Naruto came leaping over the top of the wall and Sasuke launched his kunai at the blond. Stuck in the air, Naruto was unable to dodge and crossed his arms in front of him as the sharp projectiles buried themselves in his body. Sasuke smirked at his victory until something strange happened. The Naruto in the air turned into a body of water and fell out of the air like as if dumped from a bucket.

“What in the-” Sasuke started before a sound in front of him caught his attention. Looking down he was just in time to see Naruto come smashing through the very wall he had created with his arm cocked back. Sasuke had no time to react before the whiskered boy’s fist shot forward and collided with his face, sending Sasuke flying backwards and rolling along the ground.

Coming back to his feet in a slight daze, Sasuke saw Naruto rushing at him again and shook his head to clear it before rushing forward himself. Just as the two were about to clash again, there was a burst of smoke and each boy found themselves being forcefully restrained.

“What the HELL do you two think you’re doing?” Iruka yelled at the pair of boys as he held Naruto. His left arm around the boy’s neck and holding Naruto’s right arm with his own.

“Now now, Iruka.” The one restraining Sasuke, a man with almost shoulder length silver hair said with a good natured smile. “They are young boys after all. It’s only natural they’d want to test each other.”

“That may be true, Mizuki, but to fight unrestricted like that without anybody supervising is just plain reckless. They could have killed each other the way they were fighting.”

“Ahh, don’t worry, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto said looking back over his shoulder with a foxy grin. “I was going easy on him.”

Sasuke growled at the blond. “Don’t think because you got in one lucky shot that you are better than me. You were just fortunate you surprised me.”

Naruto smirked back while still in Iruka’s hold. “Heh, surprise is a shinobi’s greatest weapon, Teme. Don’t forget, if I had decided to use a kunai instead of my fist you wouldn’t be around to bitch about it would you?”

Sasuke’s face grew red from anger and embarrassment. The blond was right. If Naruto had wanted to kill him, there would have been no way for Sasuke to have stopped him in that moment. The fact that he had also made a fool out of himself by yelling his thoughts before thinking the events completely through didn’t help his mood either.

“Both of you are getting detention for this!” Iruka yelled at the pair, making Naruto have to rub his ears due to the proximity of the shout.

“Oh come now, Iruka. Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? Naruto  _ is _ new to the academy and has spent four years training outside of Konoha. He probably didn’t realize that he wasn’t supposed to spar with somebody without supervision.” Mizuki smiled at Naruto in a friendly way. “Isn’t that right, Naruto?”

“Well, yeah.” Naruto said rubbing the back of his head with his now free right hand and smiling hesitantly back at Mizuki. Naruto was surprised, and more than a little grateful, that somebody was sticking up for him, but something didn’t seem quite right. He couldn’t really place it, but something definitely felt…off, with the way Mizuki seemed to be trying to help him. Maybe he’d just been around Jagaa too long.

Iruka sighed and looked down at Naruto. “I suppose you have a point. Okay, Naruto, you will be spared detention this time, but this is your only warning. If I catch you fighting like that again without a proper supervisor I will not be so lenient. Understood?” Naruto nodded and Iruka shifted his gaze to Sasuke. “You however are fully aware of the rules of this academy and will not be getting off so easy. Today you will be staying after class and cleaning all the erasers in the academy.”

Sasuke actually managed to look shocked and Naruto was doing everything in his power to keep from laughing and possibly having his release voided.

“All right, shows over!” Iruka declared loudly with a clap of his hands. “Everyone clear out before I decide to cut your lunch period short.” He hadn’t even finished the sentence when the sounds of frantic escape filled the air. ‘ _ It’s amazing how fast children move when properly motivated. _ ’ Iruka thought as he watched the dust settling where the crowd had been a few seconds before.

However, there was one raven-haired boy that made no move to escape the teacher’s wrath, and instead was glaring in the direction a certain blond-haired, blue eyed boy had run. He would admit that Naruto was stronger than he had expected, but it would make no difference. He would surpass him and prove his own strength.

‘ _ Uzumaki Naruto. You are nothing more than another stepping stone on my path to power, in order to kill that man. _ ’

X X X X X

Naruto rounded the corner of the school and flattened himself to the wall, listening for the sounds of any possible pursuit, the main worry being the ever fearsome fangirls. After some time, Naruto let out a relieved sigh and looked around to see where his mad dash had landed him.

He found himself in an open area that, despite the fact it was currently empty, showed signs of being used often. About fifty feet from where he stood was a lone tree with a single red wooden swing hanging from its lower branches.

Curiously, Naruto moved over to the swing and examined it before putting his leg through the old ropes and sitting sideways on the wooden platform. As soon as he was seated a small smile that was both sad and nostalgic came to his lips.

He remembered the times before he left Konoha when he would sit just like he was now on a swing at the park, sadly watching the other children laughing and playing. He had wanted so badly to join them, but every time he tried the parents would yell at him to stay away from their children. Calling him monster and demon and even throwing rocks or anything else on hand at him.

Of course, the children saw this and began following their parents' lead, and soon enough Naruto was effectively and completely ostracized from his young peers. In the seven years of life he had in Konoha before he left, Naruto had not once had even a single friend.

Naruto shook his head to clear his rapidly descending thoughts. It was always the same. No matter how long he had been gone, every time he did something that reminded him of his early life, he would once again feel all the sadness and loneliness that had plagued him before he left Konoha, and before he met Jagaa.

‘ _ Maybe Nii-san was right. _ ’ Naruto thought gloomily. ‘ _ Maybe it was too soon to come back. _ ’ Even after four years of being happy and traveling the world, he still couldn’t get past the years before them. He was starting to wonder if he ever would.

“Hey, new kid!” Someone yelled cutting into Naruto’s thoughts. “Uzumaki!” Looking up to where the voice was coming from, Naruto saw a boy with short brown hair, strange slit-like pupils but no irises, and wearing a grey hooded jacket walking towards him while waving his arm and grinning widely which showed off his slightly elongated canines. Stranger still was that the boy had a little white dog sitting on top of his head barking happily as well.

Naruto got off the swing and somewhat cautiously waited for the other boy to get closer. Normally he wouldn’t have been so guarded, but with his memories of life in Konoha before having just come back full force it was hard not to be a bit wary. His caution turned out to be completely unneeded though when the boy walked up beside him and clapped him heartily on the back, surprising the blond.

“Man, that was freaking awesome!” The boy laughed. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting to see somebody show that stuck up prick that he’s not some kind of gift from Kami? The look on his face when you slugged him was freaking priceless!” The boy laughed again accompanied by the happy barks of the dog on his head.

Naruto scratched his head in a mixture of confusion and embarrassment, smiling lightly. “Well, I’m glad somebody liked it, but somehow I doubt his fangirls are gonna let me off too easily.”

“You gotta be kidding! All his fangirls will probably be yours after today.” The boy laughed again. “Which means if I start hanging around you, the girls might start coming after  _ me _ in an attempt to get closer to  _ you _ .” The boy put on a rather lecherous grin for an eleven year old, earning a loud laugh from Naruto.

“So you’re just planning to use me as a way to pick up girls. I think I’m offended.” Naruto said with a mock hurt in his voice. The other boy just grinned.

“Yep. Oh and there’s also the fact that I might get to see the teme get embarrassed again if I hang around you.” The boy held out his hand. “The names Inuzuka Kiba. The little guy on my head is Akamaru, and as of today we are your new best friends.”

Naruto laughed again as he took Kiba’s hand, already liking the other boy. “Uzumaki Naruto, and I have to say, this isn’t exactly how I was expecting to make my first friend here.” The two boys shared another laugh as the bell marking the end of lunch rang.

“Race ya back.” Kiba yelled and dashed off in the direction of the classroom. Naruto sprinted after him, sparing just enough time to look back at the lone swing and smile.

Maybe coming back was a good idea after all.

X X X X X

“School is so troublesome.” One Nara Shikamaru said with a wide yawn.

“I don’t know about troublesome, but it’s boring as hell.” Naruto answered with his own yawn.

“You guys want some food? It will help keep your energy up.” A plump boy known as Akimichi Chouji asked, holding out a bag of potato chips. Both Naruto and Shikamaru declined, but Kiba immediately threw his hand forward. “Hell yeah, fill me up.” With a kind smile, Chouji poured a fair amount of chips into the Inuzuka’s hand before going back to munching on the chips himself.

Naruto looked at each of the three boys with something akin to wonder, almost afraid that he would blink and that they would disappear. After Kiba had declared himself Naruto’s new friend and raced him back, he had introduced the blond to the other two, explaining that they knew each other due to numerous detentions together because of their inability to focus in class. Needless to say, Naruto was fitting in perfectly.

It was astounding to him. In less than a day, Naruto had made three friends. Well, in actuality they were really only acquaintances right now, but he had a lot of hope for the future. After all, hope for the future was the only thing that had kept him going for most of his life.

“So,” Kiba said, pulling Naruto from his thoughts. “You gonna tell us why you gave up a life of freedom and traveling the world to come to our little piece of hell?” Yes, Kiba had a rather low opinion of school.

Naruto frowned. “I was asking myself the same thing earlier.” Kiba grinned knowingly.

“What was it like while you were traveling?” Chouji asked through a mouthful of chips.

Naruto’s frown gave way to a look of longing. “It was great. I got to see so many things, go so many places, meet so many people, and learn a lot. I loved every minute of it.” Naruto's longing changed into a slight grimace. “Well…maybe not  _ every _ minute. Training under Nii-san can be a little…dangerous…after all.”

Kiba’s curiosity was instantly roused. “What do you mean by dangerous?”

Naruto’s grimace became more pronounced. “Let me put it this way. One of the  _ milder _ things he did was string me upside down from a tree, hand me a kunai to block with, and start throwing shuriken at me. His reasoning, at least what he told me, was that if I could block a projectile while I was upside down with the blood rushing to my head, then blocking them normally should be easy. Personally, I think he just enjoys it torturing people. He can be a little sadistic at times.”

Shikamaru looked a bit unnerved. “Your brother sounds like a troublesome person.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Hey you four, shut up and pay attention!” Iruka yelled from the front of the class.

Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba all mumbled but started to obey. Naruto though, raised his hand with a large, impudent smile spreading over his face.

“Iruka-sensei, if I don’t talk to somebody I’m gonna end up falling asleep again you know.”

Iruka‘s eyes narrowed slightly. He could tell Naruto was just trying to test him, but he also knew that if he didn’t do something to stop him, Naruto really  _ would _ go to sleep. If for no other reason than to alleviate the risk that came from waking the blond up, Iruka had to prevent that. The question was ‘How’.

As Iruka pondered, he heard several low feminine giggles and looked up to see several girls looking at Naruto in longing (or whatever it is that eleven-year-old girls feel for an equally pre-pubescent boy) and amusement, and Iruka was struck with a positively brilliant (evil) idea. Clearing his throat to get the class’s attention, specifically Naruto’s, the scarred Chunnin gave Naruto a smile that instantly unnerved the whisker marked boy.

“You know, I’m glad you brought that up, Naruto. It wouldn’t do to have you falling asleep in class and harming your learning experience now would it.” Iruka’s grin grew wider. “That’s why I’m going to be asking the lovely young women in the class to help you stay awake.”

Naruto paled. “W-w-what do you mean?”

Iruka’s overly friendly smile turned malicious. Pulling out a sheet of paper, he quickly started writing. Once finished, Iruka pulled out a kunai and sliced the paper up and threw the pieces into a little box he pulled out of a drawer in his desk.

Iruka once again looked up to the class. “Now girls, I have put each of your names in this box. Since there are four seats to a row, I will pull three names out of the box each day. For those of you whose names are picked that day, it will be your job to keep our new classmate, Naruto, from falling asleep.” Naruto was suddenly struck by the sensation that he had just been put in the guillotine and the blade was about to fall. He was proven right by Iruka’s finish. “By  _ any _ means you deem fit.”

Naruto stared at the smirking teacher in horror. “Y-you can’t be serious.” He choked out.

“I’m just doing everything I can to help you, Naruto. We wouldn’t want your education to suffer because you couldn’t stay awake, now would we?” Naruto gaped at the man before slowly looking around the room. All around him the girls were looking at him with an air of eagerness, some with a hungry look in their eyes, and some that seemed a little vengeful. Naruto could only assume the latter were some of the more  _ devout _ Sasuke fans. The sad part was that he was actually  _ hoping _ for the ones cracking their knuckles to be picked.

“Well now, let’s start today’s drawing.” Iruka announced grandly and put his hand in the box.

Naruto swallowed hard. This was not going to be good.

X X X X X

‘ _ I guess this isn’t so bad. _ ’ Naruto thought as he looked left and right. On his left was the blonde haired girl who had been fighting when Naruto had first entered the classroom, Yamanaka Ino, if he heard the name right. Coincidentally enough, on  _ her _ left, was the pink haired girl she had been fighting with, Haruno Sakura. He also remembered that it had been these two who were at the forefront of the mass of girls that had followed Sasuke.

Which would probably explain the malicious gleam in their eyes.

On his right was a girl that Naruto hadn’t really noticed before, Hyuuga Hinata. She was kind of cute, with short blue black hair, large pupil-less lavender eyes, and soft pale skin. However, the way she kept smirking at him with a curious, yet superior look in her eyes as she leaned her head on her right hand was really starting to bug him. Oh well, at least she seemed content just to look, whereas he knew his other two watchers were just itching for him to start nodding off so they could employ their, most likely painful, plans to keep him awake.

Deciding to try to make the best of the situation Naruto attempted some small talk after glancing left at Sakura and Ino. “So, I’m guessing you two like the Teme, huh?” He instantly knew that was the wrong thing to say when he had to duck two swipes to the back of his head.

“Don’t you dare insult Sasuke-kun!” They both growled at him.

“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’.” Naruto muttered, glancing warily at the two girls for any signs of further attacks.

“Oh, they just don’t like him, they  _ love _ him.” Hinata finally spoke with a mocking voice. “It’s sickening the way they fall all over themselves just to get a passing glance from the Uchiha.”

“Shut up, Hyuuga!” Ino snapped at the pale eyed girl.

“Oh, and who’s going to make me, Yamanaka? You?” Hinata’s smirk turned dangerous. “You’re welcome to try.”

Ino growled but didn’t say anything else and Hinata smirked a little wider. “All bark and no bite, eh Yamanaka? I guess it can’t be helped. Your skills aren’t that much better than Haruno’s after all.” Both Ino and Sakura glared at the Hyuuga girl who simply smirked back confidently.

Between the three girls, Naruto was trying to decide if he should make a run for it to avoid the ensuing cat fight or grab a bag of popcorn and sit back to watch the show. He once again attributed that second thought to his time with Jagaa. In the end he opted for option three, intervening through subject change.

“So, what does it take to graduate from the academy? Kami knows I don’t want to stay here any longer than I absolutely have to.”

With a final glare at Hinata, both Sakura and Ino ‘Hmphed’ and looked away, ignoring him.

“…Okay, uh, Hinata-chan, would you tell me?”

“Awfully familiar considering this is our first time meeting, don’t you think?” Naruto grimaced and tried to apologize but was cut off when Hinata raised her hand in front of her. “But I guess I can forgive you. After all, you did improve my day considerably when you embarrassed the Uchiha.” This time Hinata gave Naruto an actual smile instead of a smirk and Naruto decided that he would probably be able to get along pretty well with this girl.

“Why thank you Hinata-chan. It’s always nice to know that I was able to brighten someone’s day.” Hinata laughed while Ino and Sakura growled.

“So anyway, what  _ does _ it take to graduate?” Naruto asked again, leaning in a little.

Hinata shrugged. “Well, according to Neji-niisan, the only requirements to passing was that you had to score at least sixty percent or better on the written exam, show at least average proficiency with kunai and shuriken, and perform one of the three basic jutsus that will be randomly selected on the day of the test.”

Naruto’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Really, that’s it.” Hinata nodded. “This is gonna be easy then. Well, the written test will be annoying, but I’m pretty sure I can get at least sixty percent without  _ too _ much trouble. The rest of it will be a piece of cake though. This is great!”

Hinata just laughed again and tilted her head in the direction of the board. “It’s nice to see you’re so confident, but you might want to start paying more attention in class if you really want to hit the sixty percent mark.”

Naruto grinned sheepishly but turned his attention to Iruka with more enthusiasm. ‘ _ Becoming a Genin is going to be a cinch. I can’t wait to tell Nii-san. _ ’ He thought happily before focusing on the lesson.

X X X X X

“Why are you following me around again?” Jagaa asked in annoyance to the masked man with his nose in a little orange book as the two of them walked through the streets of Konoha. Kakashi had been following him relentlessly since he left the Hokage tower and it was starting to annoy him. It didn’t help that as they had been walking, Jagaa had been noticing some of the curious and even admiring looks he was getting from both civilians and Shinobi alike. The reason this bothered him was because he had started wondering how much those looks would change as soon as it got around that he was more or less Naruto’s guardian. He didn’t tell Kakashi this, but Jagaa was hoping that someone would be dumb enough to attack him just so that he could make an example of them.

A very  _ painful _ example.

“All foreign ninja within Konoha, outside of the Chuunin exams and Diplomatic missions, must be escorted by a Ninja of equal or greater strength for the duration of their stay.” Kakashi stated matter-of-factly without looking away from the book.

“One, that’s bullshit. Two, I’m not foreign, I’m  _ freelance _ . There’s a difference.”

Kakashi smiled. “Well you could always take Hokage-sama up on his offer and become a Konoha Shinobi. Then you wouldn’t have me following you around any more.”

“Why would I want to be tied down to one village?” Jagaa asked. “I enjoy the freedom that comes from being a wandering nin. You village ninja can’t even leave without being labeled a Missing Nin and having Hunter Nin sent after you. What in the hell would make you think I want any part of that?”

“I believe you said that to Hokage-sama as well, and if I remember right, he was willing to make a few concessions for you so you would keep a fair deal of your freedom.”

“I still don’t like the idea. Besides, why the hell do you want me to sign up anyway? Konoha’s supposed to be the strongest of the hidden villages. I’m sure that you have plenty of Ninja stronger than me running around.”

“Not many who can replace themselves with the Hokage,  _ after _ being used as a replacement themselves.” Kakashi said pointedly.

Jagaa just shrugged. “So the old man wanted to play with the kids and let me do the replacement. What’s the big deal?”

Kakashi looked up from his book for the first time, his visible eye narrowing slightly. “For someone who keeps calling him a half dead geezer, you are quick to say that Hokage-sama  _ allowed _ you to replace yourself with him.”

“Just because he  _ looks _ ready to drop dead any day, doesn’t mean I can’t recognize his strength.” Jagaa shrugged. “Besides, you can’t become a kage if you don’t have the skills to back it up.”

“Then why are you so disrespectful to him if you know how strong he is?” Kakashi asked pointedly.

“I’ve never respected anybody.” Jagaa smirked. “Besides, it’s fun.”

Kakashi sweat dropped.

“By the way Kakashi, why do they have  _ you _ guarding me? The old guy can’t think I’m  _ that _ big a threat, can he?”

“No, not really. However it  _ is _ a rule of the village that you need to be escorted by someone at least as strong as you are, usually judged by rank, and from our encounter four years ago I can vouch that you deserve nothing less than a Jounin.” Kakashi smiled.

“Uh, thanks I guess?”

Kakashi’s smile grew behind his mask. “Oh don’t thank me just yet, since Hokage-sama also told me to bug you until you agreed to become a Konoha Jounin.”

Jagaa smacked his forehead and Kakashi heard a mumble that sounded like ‘I knew it’.

“Sooooo, will you become a Jounin?”

“Bite me, Kakashi.”

“Come one, it wouldn’t be that bad would it?”

“I said shove it.”

“Ah come on, become a Jounin.”

Jagaa snapped his head over to the silver haired man. “Tell you what, Kakashi. I’ll become a Jounin for Konoha when Naruto becomes-”

“Hey, Nii-san!” An excited Naruto shouted behind him after having dashed from school to tell Jagaa the good news. “It’s gonna be so easy to become a Genin!”

“-a Genin.” Jagaa finished, distracted by Naruto’s shout. “Wait, what? No, I meant to say the Hok-” It was too late as Kakashi was already shaking his hand vigorously.

“Deal! You’ll become a Jounin when Naruto becomes Genin. I’m sure Hokage-sama will find that to be perfectly acceptable.” Kakashi said with his usual smile.

“N-no…That wasn’t….” Jagaa tried again but Kakashi cut him off.

“Well I’m going to go tell Hokage-sama the good news. He’ll be very happy to hear that you agreed so quickly. Ja ne.” With a swirl of wind and dust, Kakashi  _ Shunshined _ away.

Jagaa stood rooted to the spot, staring at where Kakashi had just been standing until a  _ certain  _ person’s voice reached him.

“Hey, Nii-san, what’s wrong?” Naruto’s answer was a huge wave of killing intent that rippled out from the scarred man, focused on Naruto himself. Jagaa’s head turned like an un-oiled machine to look at the young blonde, and Naruto could swear he saw a red glow coming through Jagaa’s dark sunglasses.

“Uh, Nii-san?” Naruto asked, stepping back hesitantly. “Sensei? Nii-san-sensei, heheh?”

“ **NaaaaRuuuuTooooo** !” Jagaa growled demonically.

“WAHHHH!” With his fearful cry Naruto tried to run away, but instantly fell to the ground when Jagaa grabbed him around an ankle. “Where are you going, Naruto?” Jagaa’s voice had gone from demonic to extremely friendly, and it scared the shit out of Naruto. “It’s time for you to do some  _ training _ .” Naruto’s eyes widened in terror at the emphasis on ‘training’.

For the second time that day, citizens of Konoha were treated to an extremely strange sight as Jagaa drug Naruto through the streets as the boy clawed at the earth in his attempts to escape while screaming in high, feminine pitch.

“WHAT DID I DO!? WHAT DID I DOOOOOOOO!?”

X X X X X

“Will you  _ please _ tell me what I did?” A very dirty and bruised Naruto pleaded as he sprinted back and forth between two trees spaced one hundred meters apart. At least he was only being forced to run now. Naruto’s earlier ‘Training’ had involved Jagaa basically using him as a punching bag…enthusiastically. His answer was a rain of kunai and shuriken that forced him to put out a burst of speed to avoid being impaled.

“If you got the breath to whine then you’re not running hard enough.” Jagaa growled, pulling out more projectiles and raising his arm to throw them. “So it looks like I’ll have to motivate you.”

“Gahh, No! I’m running! I’m running!” Naruto yelled and picked up speed considerably. Jagaa put his arm back down, but kept the weapons in hand as a warning to Naruto what would happen if he slowed down again.

“Well, it would seem that Kakashi was telling me the truth about your quick agreement.” An aged voice said from behind Jagaa.

Jagaa growled. “Yeah, and I’d like to thank you  _ soooo _ much for the unpleasant turn my life is about to take.”

“Oh, come now, Jagaa-kun. I’m sure it won’t be as bad as you think.” Sarutobi said easily as he came up beside Jagaa. “You might even grow to like it here.”

“All right, Naruto, you can stop now!” Jagaa yelled out to the boy. Naruto’s response was to simply collapse on the ground panting heavily while Jagaa turned to the Hokage with an annoyed expression. “Is there something specific you wanted, or are you just here to gloat?”

Surprisingly, the kindly old man put on a mischievous smirk. “A little of both actually.”

Jagaa smacked his forehead.

The Hokage’s smirk turned to an amused smile. “Actually the reason I came down was to tell you that, mostly because of the conditions of how we got your agreement, that I won’t resend my offer on the special conditions I offered you.”

Jagaa lowered his hand and gave the old man a look that, despite the fact his eyes couldn’t be seen, spoke volumes. “You may not believe this, but for someone who has spent nearly his  _ whole life _ living completely unrestricted, only getting a month out of a year to leave the village and do whatever I want is  _ not _ something that makes me feel like leaping for joy.”

“That’s on top of any normal vacation time you get, as well you know.” Sarutobi said, but was answered by Jagaa’s less than amused grunt. “All right, then how about we call it penance for using me as your replacement earlier?” The old man’s eyes were dancing in mirth.

“You let me, and you know it!”

Sarutobi just smiled. The truth was that he had  _ not _ allowed himself to be used as a replacement any more than Jagaa had. He had honestly been surprised. Being able to replace yourself with another human with such speed was impressive, especially since it was much harder than replacing yourself with an inanimate object such as a log. The fact that both of them appeared to have done it instinctively only made it that much more impressive. The small display from both parties had been enough for the old man to decide he wanted the scarred young man to join Konoha’s forces.

That and the fact that Sarutobi wanted to make sure Naruto didn’t lose his brother figure anytime soon.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. As long as you have agreed, I’m satisfied.” The Hokage said with a smile. “Now, do you think you could stop trying to kill Naruto with training?”

Jagaa raised an eyebrow before twisting his head to the sprawled out young blonde, and Sarutobi became curious at the way the same eyebrow started twitching at the sight.

“Naruto! Wake the fuck up!” Jagaa yelled, throwing a shuriken at him. Almost instantly, Naruto sprung to his feet with his hands already in his weapons pouch and the old Hokage soon found himself dodging ten incoming kunai and two shuriken that the boy had thrown as a counter. His eyes widening from the amount of projectiles thrown at once, Sarutobi looked back just in time to see Jagaa appear behind Naruto and bash him upside the head, knocking the boy face first into the dirt.

“How many times do I have to tell you, ‘One for One’?” Jagaa asked the boy who was furiously trying to clean the dirt off his tongue. ”What the hell good does it do to waste all your weapons knocking away a single shuriken?”

“But Niiiiii-saaaaaannnnn, I can’t help it.” Naruto whined, pausing to spit out the few remaining pieces of gravel. “I just throw whatever I grab.”

Jagaa let out a heavy sigh and started rubbing the bridge of his nose. “There has to be some way to fix that. Maybe if I make you empty your weapons pouch of everything but a single kunai or shuriken before you go to sleep your body will get used to only throwing  _ one _ weapon at a time.”

“What if I miss?” Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.

“Then you better hope I wasn’t aiming for anything vital.” Jagaa said coolly.

Naruto paled and started sweating heavily. “Uhm, I think I’m gonna go work on my aim a bit.” He muttered. Running over to a tree, Naruto marked it with five ‘X’s in a line going down the trunk before running back about one hundred feet. Bending his knees slightly, Naruto held his hand steadily over his pouch on his right leg. After gazing intently at the tree for a moment, Sarutobi was surprised to see Naruto close his eyes.

With a swift motion, Naruto pulled out a kunai and threw it high into the air. Naruto’s hand dipped in his pouch again, pulling out four more kunai and tossing two to his left hand. In a smooth flow of motion, Naruto made an overhead throw with his right hand followed by a backwards side arm with his left. Without pause, he followed with an underhand throw from his right again before reversing his turn to mirror the last throw with his left hand. As the kunai left his fingertips, Naruto leapt into the air and grabbed the first kunai he had thrown upwards and spun once before releasing it from his right hand in a side arm throw. Finishing his throw, Naruto came down to land in a graceful half crouch as he exhaled slowly.

Four almost simultaneous ‘thunks’ followed closely by a fifth one had Sarutobi’s eyes widening slightly. Each Kunai had hit a different ‘X’ with three out of five of them being directly in the center of the marks.

“How’d I do, Nii-san?” Naruto asked with a grin as Jagaa walked up to examine the tree closer.

“Not bad,” He said after a quick inspection. “But you’re still losing your orientation when you reverse direction,” Jagaa pointed at the top kunai which had hit about an inch to the left of the center of the ‘X’. “And on the last throw from the air.” This time he pointed to the center kunai that had hit about two inches high and right. “Also, you did last week’s pattern of two, four, five, one, and three. This week’s pattern is one, five, three, two, and four.” Jagaa pulled the kunai out the tree and threw them back to Naruto. “Try again, and remember to  _ feel _ the target, not just see it.”

“Hai, Sensei.”

Sarutobi watched in amazement as Naruto went through the routine again, this time following the pattern he had been told. However, it wasn’t just the display of skill that was so impressive to the old man. It was the way the two blonds in front of him were acting.

No longer was Naruto the loud, cocky, carefree boy he had been earlier in the day. Just as Jagaa was no longer the sarcastic, laid back, disrespectful man  _ he _ had been. They had become serious, focused, and intent. A Teacher and his Student. It was such a drastic change that Sarutobi could hardly recognize the two before him. Jagaa calmly and professionally correcting Naruto’s form while the boy in turn listened intently and adjusted as Jagaa instructed, never once complaining or trying to cover up his mistakes with boasts or excuses.

‘ _ Are they really the same two people that were in my office earlier today? _ ’ The old man thought in wonderment, before another thought seeped into his mind. ‘ _ If Jagaa could help Naruto this much, I wonder… _ ’ Sarutobi nodded to himself. It may be worth a shot.

“All right, Naruto, let’s call it a day.” Jagaa said after Naruto had done his maneuver for the twelfth time.

“Are you sure, Nii-san? I can still do more.” Naruto said as he put the kunai he had been using back into his pouch.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I figure I owe you anyway since I beat the crap out of you for so long just because I was irritated.” Jagaa said with a shrug.

Naruto coughed lightly and glanced at Jagaa a bit nervously. “So…will you tell me what  _ irritated _ you?” Naruto decided, for the sake of his health, not to point out that what Jagaa called ‘Irritated’ was what most people called being ‘ _ Extremely  _ Pissed Off’.

Jagaa looked at the boy and a chill ran down his spine. “Well, because of a certain _ someone _ ,” Naruto paled slightly. “I got myself roped into becoming a Jounin for Konoha once you become a Genin. I was going to say I’d join up when you became ‘Hokage’ so that I’d have a long,  _ long _ , time to think of a way out of it, but then  _ someone _ started shouting about how easy it would be to become a  _ Genin _ , and it screwed me up.”

Naruto laughed nervously and glanced back and forth as if looking for an escape route. “Uhmm, I’m sorry?”

Jagaa smiled at the boy. “Oh, don’t worry, Naruto. I’m not angry with you anymore. Besides,” Jagaa’s smile became wicked. “I’ve already thought of the best way to properly thank the man  _ responsible _ .” Jagaa leaned in close and whispered to Naruto, who in turn got an evil smile that Sarutobi felt he should recognize. The old man didn’t get time to think on it, because as soon as Jagaa pulled away, Naruto ran up to the old man with his evil smile still in place.

“Hey, Ojii-san, Nii-san said to show the Jutsu I made up.”

The old man remembered Jagaa’s warning about Naruto’s incredibly powerful original Jutsu, but didn’t have time to say anything as Naruto formed the ram seal. “ **Henge** !”

‘ _ A Henge? _ ’ Sarutobi thought in confusion. ‘ _ Jagaa said it was one of the most powerful techniques he’d ever seen. How could a Henge… _ ’ Sarutobi’s thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when the smoke around Naruto cleared away to reveal one of the most beautiful women Sarutobi had ever seen.

Her golden blonde hair was pulled into long pigtails that fell gently down her shoulders. Her incredible blue eyes shined like polished sapphires, and her soft, full lips were formed into a small pout between her cutely whiskered cheeks.

But most importantly…she was completely naked.

Sarutobi stared for almost a full three seconds at the vision in front of him before being blasted backwards by the torrent of blood that erupted from his nose, and lay twitching on the ground.

Naruto, now back in his normal form, was on the ground as well, unable to breath due to how hard he was laughing. Jagaa walked up and looked down on the twitching form of the village leader with a satisfied smile. “That’s Naruto’s  _ Oiroke no Jutsu _ , and as you can see, I wasn’t exaggerating about the devastation it can cause.” Jagaa smirked and kicked some dirt into the puddle of blood from the old man’s nose. “Well, he may be half dead, but it looks like he’s still lively where it counts.” Still smirking, Jagaa reached into his shuriken pouch and pulled out a disposable camera he carried for just such occasions. A few flashes later Jagaa put the camera back into the pouch while chuckling amusedly. “Now we’re even.”

Jagaa turned back to Naruto. “Okay, you did your part. So now I’ll hold up with my end of the deal.”

Naruto was back on his feet so fast lightning would have been impressed. “YATTA, ALL I CAN EAT ICHIRAKU RAMEN!!!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jagaa replied as he massaged his ears. “Let’s just get the emptying of my wallet over with.” With Naruto still jumping for joy, the two blonds left the area, leaving the old Hokage twitching on the forest floor.

X X X X X

Naruto couldn’t help the sense of wonderful nostalgia that came over him as he looked at the small ramen stand in front of him. It felt like a lifetime ago since he had last tasted the wonderful food made inside, but now he was back and only a few moments away from once again having the best ramen that he had ever tasted.

“Hey!” Jagaa’s voice pulled Naruto out of his blissful thoughts. “Are you just gonna stand there drooling or do you plan on going inside?”

“I’m coming!” Naruto yelled and practically sprinted the remaining twenty feet or so.

As soon as Naruto passed under the entrance a pretty brunette came out of the back with a pad of paper and a pencil, smiling kindly. Naruto instantly recognized her as the twelve year old girl named ‘Ayame’ that used to talk to him while he ate if she wasn’t busy helping her dad in the back. Now at sixteen, she had become quite an attractive young woman. “What can I get you gentlemen?” She asked sweetly.

Naruto’s trip down memory lane was cut short by the question as his mouth started watering. “One of everything and keep em coming!” Naruto shouted happily and sat on his favorite old stool.

The pencil and pad fell from the girl’s hands as she stared at Naruto as if she’d just seen a ghost. For an indefinite amount of time the small stand was completely silent, save the low snickering of Jagaa as he watched Naruto’s growing nervousness.

“Uhh, are you okay, Ayame-nee-chan?” Naruto asked and the girl’s eyes regained their focus.

“NARUTO-KUN!” The girl screamed before launching herself over the counter to one of the most spectacular glomps ever seen by man.   
“Where have you been? Dad and I were so worried about you? Why did you just disappear like that?”

“A…Aya…me…nee…chan…ca…n’t…brea…th…” A quickly turning blue Naruto choked out. Off to the side, Jagaa was openly laughing at the boy’s plight.

“Oh, sorry Naruto-kun.” Ayame said and loosened her hold without fully letting go. “I was just so happy to see you again. We’ve really been worried about you, you know.”

Naruto smiled apologetically despite his gasping. “I’m really sorry, Ayame-chan. I just had to get away for a while. Don’t worry though. I won’t be leaving again anytime soon.”

Ayame pulled away with a happy smile. “I’m glad.”

A flash of light off to the side drew the reunited friend’s attention and they turned their heads just in time to see Jagaa stowing his disposable camera. “What are you taking a picture for?” Naruto asked suspiciously.

Jagaa shrugged. “You never know when it could come in handy. Besides that though, are you two gonna hug all day or can we order now? I’m starting to get hungry here.”

“Oh, yes, right away.” Ayame said with a rosy blush as she broke away from Naruto and quickly moved back around the counter. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll start with one shrimp ramen and go from there.” Jagaa said easily. “I think you already heard what the brat wanted.”

With a nod, Ayame ran into the back of the shop. A few seconds later there was a surprised ‘What?’ from the other side of the wall and soon after an elderly man walked through the doorway, his eyes lighting up as soon as he saw Naruto. “Well I’ll be! It really is you! How have you been, boy? It’s been far too quiet around here without you. You had us worried when you disappeared without telling us like that.” The old man reached over the counter and ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately.

Naruto smiled at the old man. “Sorry Jii-san, I won’t do it again. I promise.”

The kind old man smiled wider. “Good to hear. How about in celebration of your return, I give you the first five bowls free?”

“You’re the best, Jii-san!” Naruto exclaimed happily.

Jagaa just shook his head. ‘ _ Only because he knows giving Naruto five bowls free is like giving a normal person a ten percent discount on  _ one _ bowl. _ ’

With another happy smile the old man followed his daughter to the back to make the orders.

Jagaa turned to Naruto with a small frown. “You know, I think I should be offended that I wasn’t even noticed. Where’s the customer service card? I’m gonna complain.”

“Ha ha.” Naruto said sarcastically. “You’re just upset that Ayame-nee-chan was so happy to see me that she didn’t pay any attention to you.”

Jagaa’s frown turned into a smirk. “Funny you should mention her. You seemed to be pretty happy while she was hugging you. Could it be that little Naru-kun has a crush on an older girl?”

Naruto blushed a deep red. “I do  _ not _ have a crush on Ayame-nee-chan! She’s just a friend!”

“Well I’ve seen plenty of  _ other _ girls that would  _ love _ to be your  _ friend _ , but you always run away from them. Seems pretty likely that it could have been because you had another girl in mind?”

Naruto growled. “Fangirls are  _ not _ normal girls and you know it.” Naruto’s angry look became smug. “Or have you forgotten about  _ your _ Fangirls in Kiri?”

Jagaa shuddered violently. “Point taken. You win this one.”

Naruto smiled smugly but let the issue drop. He didn’t want to think about Fangirls anymore. It might make him lose his appetite.

For a time the two of them just sat quietly as the sounds of cooking filled the air until Jagaa decided to break the silence. “So how was your first day at the academy? Well, minus the fact I know you must have hated sitting on your ass all day.”

Naruto shuddered almost as much as Jagaa had. “Yeah, that part wasn’t fun in the least.” Naruto’s face lit up with a grin. “But I did make a few friends and embarrass that Uchiha-teme. So overall I’d say that it was worth coming back.” Naruto looked up to the roof of the Ramen stand with determined and happy grin on his face. “Things are going to be different this time.”

Jagaa smiled lightly at the boy’s happy expression before his eyebrows rose questioningly. “Uchiha-teme?”

Naruto nodded vigorously. “Yeah, he challenged me to a fight and I totally…YATTA, RAMEN!” Naruto yelled happily as Ayame set a bowl of the steaming Miso Ramen in front of the whiskered blonde. Naruto immediately grabbed his chopsticks and broke them apart. “Itadakimasu!” He yelled before shoveling noodles into his mouth at a ferocious rate.

‘ _ The only thing Naruto likes better than boasting is eating ramen. _ ’ Jagaa thought with a shake of his head before looking up to Ayame as she set his Shrimp Ramen in front of him. “I hope you have a few bowls already on back up. He goes through those things fast you know.”

The girl nodded with a small blush on her cheeks. “Don’t worry. We know all about how much he can eat. Excuse me.” Turning quickly the girl darted back through the door to the back, rushing past her father just as he was coming out. He smiled at her fondly before walking over to lean on one elbow in front of Jagaa. “Heheh, it seems my daughter is quite taken with you.”

Jagaa just swallowed the noodles in his mouth before looking up to the old man with a smirk. “It’s the sunglasses. Chicks dig the mysterious look.” Seeing the old man’s slight frown, Jagaa’s smirk changed to a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. She’s safe from me. I may not be the most  _ chaste _ of people, but I don’t touch innocent girls like her. It feels kinda wrong.”

“You’re a player?” The old man asked with an eyebrow raised.

“More like, non-committal.” Jagaa answered easily. “So I only ever hook up with women who have the same mindset.”

The old man nodded. “At least you’re honest.” The old man looked away long enough to hand Naruto another bowl of Ramen just before the boy could yell for more. With a happy cry Naruto proceeded to dig in again. Turning back to Jagaa the old man smiled widely. “There are some things that are impossible to forget.” He explained.

“I’ll bet.” Jagaa said dryly before taking another bite of noodles. “You know, this stuff is really good.” He added thoughtfully.

“Thank you.” The old man smiled kindly again, and Jagaa started to wonder if the man even had an aggressive bone in his body. “My name is Teuchi.” The man said, extending his hand. Jagaa examined it curiously for a moment before taking it in his own. “Jagaa.”

“Nice to meet you, Jagaa.”

“Same to you.”

“Old Man, another bowl!” Naruto yelled happily. Still smiling, Teuchi pulled up another pre-prepared bowl.

Jagaa watched the old man hand Naruto his next bowl as he asked the boy how he had been for the last few years. Naruto of course started to animatedly tell the kind old man everything he could think of, through a mouth full of noodles. Ayame soon came out of the back as well holding three more bowls of ramen. Her face heated up slightly when she looked over at Jagaa again, but soon enough was chatting happily with Naruto alongside her father.

Jagaa smiled slightly. It was nice to know that Naruto at least had a few people in the village that hadn’t hated him. It was starting to make sense to the scarred man why Naruto wanted to come back so badly. Sometimes it was worth putting up with the hatred of a hundred people, just to feel the kindness of one.

It was about then, that Tuechi raised his head to look at something outside of the stand and his eyes widened fearfully before glancing back down worriedly at the happy blond boy. Catching the motion, Ayame too looked up and her own eyes widened as well. Jagaa didn’t need to check to know what they had seen, and from the expression on Naruto’s face, neither did he. Without a word, Jagaa reached out and rubbed the top of the boy’s head comfortingly. Starting in surprise, Naruto looked at Jagaa.

“Don’t worry, Naruto. Like you said before, things are gonna be different this time.” Jagaa’s mouth formed a confident and reassuring smirk as he ruffled the boy’s hair. “Because this time,  _ I’m _ here.”

Naruto felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked at the man that had become like his brother over the last four years. Closing his eyes and wiping them furiously, he nodded his understanding, still not able to look at the man because of all the emotion welling inside him.

Jagaa smiled fondly at the young boy as he gently ruffled his hair one more time before standing up from the stool and facing the oncoming mob. 

X X X X X

“Such power.” The old Hokage muttered, now sitting behind his desk after waking up from his fainting due to blood loss. How could such a young boy come up with such a devastating technique? It was unfair.

“Now I remember that smile.” Sarutobi chastised himself. “That was Naruto’s ‘prank’ smile. Seeing that has never been a good sign.” The old man’s voice hardened slightly. “And why do I suddenly know that the ‘snort’ Jagaa let out earlier was  _ not _ a sneeze?” Sarutobi’s face shifted again to take on a surprisingly malicious smile. “Having Naruto use such a technique on me was rather low, Jagaa-kun. However, I have already thought of a suitable vengeance. You will rue the day you tangled with the one known as ‘The Professor’.” Sarutobi chuckled darkly as his plans for retribution played through his mind.

“Uh, should I come back later, Hokage-sama?” A lazy voice said from in front of him.

The old man snapped his eyes up to see Kakashi standing in the middle of the room, his visible eye watching him warily. “Uh, Kakashi-kun…what are you doing here?”

“You asked me to come.” The silver haired Jounin stated bluntly, still watching him carefully.

Sarutobi was seriously fighting the urge to slap himself right now. “Oh, yes, well thank you for coming. Please have a seat.” He indicated one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Thank you, Hokage-sama, but I think I’d prefer to stand.” Kakashi said politely even as his mind finished his thought. ‘ _ Just in case I have to run away from the crazy old man. _ ’

Sarutobi nodded, his years of experience being the only thing keeping him from blushing at being caught acting like a vengeful ten year old. “Very well, do you know why I called you here?” At Kakashi’s negative shake of his head, Sarutobi lifted his pipe to his mouth. “The truth is that I would like your opinion on a few matters.”

Kakashi tilted his head curiously. “What matters are those, Hokage-sama.”

“For starters, I would like to know how strong you think Jagaa-kun is.”

Kakashi paused, putting his hand in his chin thoughtfully and looking at the ceiling. “Hmm, I can’t say for sure having only had a brief exchange with him four years ago, but if he’s stronger now than he was then. I have no doubt that I would lose if I didn’t use the  _ Sharingan _ .”

The sure way Kakashi answered made Sarutobi’s eyes widen. “And if you did use it?”

Kakashi stayed silent for a while, staring at the ceiling. When he finally looked down, his eye was curved into a relaxed smile. “I have no idea, Hokage-sama.” Sarutobi’s left eye twitched in annoyance as he fought down the urge to pound some seriousness into the masked man.

“I see.” The old man said as he took a calming puff on his pipe. “Do you feel I was wrong in my decision to allow him unescorted movement based on only his word that he would become a Jounin of Konoha? Should I have waited until the day he actually wore the Konoha Hitai-ate?” The old man dropped his pipe and looked at Kakashi expectantly.

“With all due respect, Hokage-sama, why are you asking me about this?” Kakashi stated. “Wouldn’t it be better for you to consult with your advisors in this situation?”

“No, it wouldn’t.” Sarutobi answered, causing Kakashi’s head to tilt in confusion. “They would only look at things in the sense of ‘He’s a Wandering Nin’ and demand his actions be restricted. I also feel that, despite how much it pains me to admit, they may be biased due to the fact he has been training Naruto. That’s why I want the opinion of someone who has talked with and spent a bit of time with him, and who holds no grudge against Naruto.” The Hokage took another puff on his pipe. “So I’ll ask you again, Kakashi-kun. Do you think he should still be escorted?”

Kakashi nodded his acceptance of the old man’s answer and frowned lightly behind his mask as he thought. “I don’t know about being escorted, Hokage-sama, but I do think you should have ANBU following him.” Sarutobi raised his eyebrows curiously, but Kakashi held up a hand. “Let me finish, sir. He needs ANBU following him, and so does Naruto. Not because of anything  _ they _ might do, but because of what  _ others _ might try to do. I don’t think I need to remind you of how happy the villagers, and a large amount of the Shinobi, were to hear that Naruto had left the village. They won’t take the news that he’s back well.” Kakashi looked directly into the old Hokage’s eyes. “And if there’s one thing I  _ do _ know, it’s that Jagaa will  _ not _ allow Naruto to be mistreated.”

The Hokage narrowed his eyes. “How far would he go?”

Kakashi smiled. “Well, let’s just say that it is a  _ very _ good thing I happened to be walking by the gate today or we’d be short two gate guards.”

Sarutobi rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Wonderful.”

Kakashi smile faded slightly. “Don’t worry, Hokage-sama, I’ve already asked some old ANBU friends of mine to keep an eye on the two of them, so it should be….” The sound of rushing wind marked someone’s arrival through  _ shunshin _ , and both the aged Hokage and the silver haired Jounin looked over to see a man in dark ANBU clothing and a wolf mask kneeling off to the side.

“Hokage-sama, Kakashi-san, we have a situation!”

“What is it?” Sarutobi asked crisply.

“There is a large group of villagers moving to Naruto-san and Jagaa-san’s location. I have my men ready to step in if they show signs of violence, but it may require Hokage-sama’s intervention to keep the peace.”

The old man instantly stood up from behind his desk, complete seriousness in his eyes. “Let’s go.” He commanded and all three of them disappeared.

X X X X X

When Sarutobi arrived, he had expected to see a large crowd of angry villagers, possibly being blocked off by ANBU, standing in front of the small ramen stand and screaming for blood while Jagaa stood protectively in front of Naruto.

What he did  _ not _ expect to see, was a large crowd of villagers laying on the ground and groaning in pain while the ANBU stood nervously off to the side. Watching as Jagaa held a terrified man half a meter off the ground with one hand.

“This is the only warning you all get!” Sarutobi heard Jagaa growl at the man. “If  _ anyone _ tries to harm Naruto in  _ any _ way, they probably  _ won’t _ live to regret the mistake! Do I make myself clear?” The frightened man, who now had a wet trail running down his pants, nodded vigorously. With a grunt of acceptance Jagaa dropped the man, watching as his knees buckled beneath him. “I suggest you and your friends spread the word fast. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of unwarned people now would you?” The man shook his head so hard it looked like it was about to fly off his shoulders. “Good. Now get the  _ hell _ out of my sight.”

The man took off at a speed that could have put some Shinobi to shame and most of the people on the ground were already crawling away as fast as their injured bodies would allow. Without another word, Jagaa turned and walked back into the ramen stand and took a seat next to Naruto as the boy himself stared in awe. Behind the counter, an elderly man clapped Jagaa on the shoulder heartily as he offered him a fresh bowl of ramen, and a brown haired girl was looking at him with hearts in her eyes.

The old Hokage looked from the four in the stand, to the people on the ground groaning or crawling away, then at the ANBU standing around nervously, before going back to the four in the ramen stand. The action was repeated again and again, to the point Kakashi was starting to wonder if the village leader was going to make himself dizzy.

Shaking his head, Kakashi turned and addressed one of the present ANBU. “What happened here?” The question seemed to snap the old man back to reality and he too turned to listen to the response.

The ANBU shifted from side to side uncomfortably. “W-well, we were watching the new arrival just as you asked us to, when a large group of villagers gathered behind the ramen stand. The villagers started yelling various insults such as ‘Demon Lover’ and ‘Monster Protector’, and we were about to intervene, when one of the villagers picked up a rock and made as if to throw it.” The ANBU looked over to the stand, and a slight awe came to his voice. “I could barely even see him move. He grabbed the man’s hand from behind to stop the throw, but that was  _ after _ he had already knocked out everyone else in the group with low powered strikes to their heads and abdomens. The only people I’ve ever seen move like that before, were either Kakashi-san or Gai-san.”

Kakashi and Sarutobi glanced at each other and nodded. It seemed that Kakashi’s predictions on Jagaa’s strength, as well as his lack of hesitation to protect Naruto, were right on the mark.

“Take any of the injured villagers who have not left by their own power already to the hospital for a checkup.” The Hokage ordered the ANBU. “Kakashi and I will talk with Jagaa.”

“Yes, Sir!” The ANBU saluted before motioning to his colleges, who immediately set to work gathering up the remaining people on the ground. With another nod to Kakashi, the Hokage entered the stand followed by the masked Jounin. “Good evening, Jagaa-san, Naruto-kun.” Sarutobi said smoothly and took a seat next to the scarred man.

Jagaa turned and smiled easily. “Hey old timer, you just missed the party. A group of villagers came to  _ celebrate _ Naruto’s return to Konoha. I just finished showing them how much we  _ appreciated _ their efforts.” Sarutobi felt his irritation rise at Jagaa’s casualness at attacking villagers…or maybe it was because Jagaa had just called him ‘Old Timer’. He wasn’t sure.

Naruto was watching Hokage somewhat nervously. He knew that the old man was nice, but he might not take too kindly to Jagaa attacking villagers. He was afraid that his worries had been confirmed when he saw the kindly old man frown. “May I ask why you decided to attack the villagers  _ before _ they actually attacked you?” He said pointedly.

“Preemptive strike.” Jagaa shrugged. “Besides, it’s my policy to kill anyone who attacks me without provocation. So it was either to hurt them but not kill them by making the first move myself, or let them attack first and kill them all.” Jagaa gave the old man a vicious grin. “However, if you don’t like the fact I went with option one, I’d be  _ more _ than happy to go with option two.”

Sarutobi sighed. “I would prefer that you  _ not _ attack the villagers at all. You are going to be a Jounin of this village in less than a year. I can probably get this incident past the council as you being ignorant of how things work here, but that won’t work twice.”

Jagaa’s voice hardened slightly. “You say that as if I give a fuck. Don’t forget, I didn’t ask, nor do I  _ want _ to become a Jounin of this village. The only reason I don’t just leave now is because of Naruto. So if you think I’m gonna sit back and let these shit for brains fucktards you call ‘villagers’ hurt him based on nothing more than their own stupidity, then you should book yourself a room in an old folks home because you’ve gone senile.”

Naruto, Ayame, and Teuchi were all staring at Jagaa in a mixture of shock and amazement. Even Kakashi’s visible eye had widened slightly in surprise at Jagaa’s bold statement. All four of them were looking back and forth from Jagaa to the Hokage in anticipation of what would happen next, and were surprised when the old man smiled lightly.

“Hnn, you certainly don’t mince your words do you, Jagaa-san?”

Jagaa smirked back. “Nope.”

The old man shook his head. “Maybe having you around will be more trouble than I thought.”

“You could always…”

“No, I’m holding you to your deal to become a Jounin.” The old man actually smirked at Jagaa’s scowl. “Call it payback for the little prank you and Naruto played on me.” The old man’s smirk widened evilly. “And that’s only the beginning.”

Jagaa’s own scowl deepened. “I think I’m starting to dislike you, old man.” The Hokage simply smiled in response.

Now that the fear of Jagaa getting in trouble was gone, Naruto had started snickering quietly along with Kakashi as they watched the exchange.

“Uhm, sorry to interrupt,” The four sitting at the counter turned their heads to look at Teuchi as he addressed Naruto and Jagaa. “But didn’t you two just get here today?” At the pair of blonds nod, the old man continued. “So do you have a place to stay?”

Jagaa and Naruto blinked a couple times at the man, Naruto’s blinks the only ones able to be seen due to Jagaa’s sunglasses, before turning to each other.

“Do we have a place to stay?” Jagaa asked.

“How should I know? You’re the adult!” Naruto answered.

“You’re the one who’s lived here before,  _ and _ the one that wanted to come back! Didn’t you have some kind of plan?”

“I’m eleven! What do I know about making plans?”

“Well I’m a  _ Wanderer _ ! Why the hell would I think about a permanent residence? I usually sleep in the woods! Something you should be well aware of!”

“I can’t believe you’d try to blame this on a kid, you irresponsible pervert!”

“Hey,  _ I’m _ not the one who wanted to come here in the first place, you Chibi pain in the ass! That makes it  _ your _ fault by  _ de _ fault!”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLIN ‘CHIBI’!?”

The other four occupants of the little ramen stand could only watch in amazement as Jagaa and Naruto continued to argue back and forth like a pair of school boys over whose fault it was that they had no place to stay. The Sandaime was finally about to suggest that they stay at his house for the night, if for no other reason than to stop the bickering, when a new voice cut in.

“Yo, Naruto, what’s up man?” Everyone in the stand turned back to see Kiba walking up to them with Akamaru on his shoulder.

“Oh, hey Kiba. What are you doing here?” Naruto asked, completely forgetting he was currently in an argument.

“I just heard some people yelling and thought I recognized your voice so I came to check it out.” Kiba said with a shrug.

“Oh, yeah.” Naruto laughed. “Me and Nii-san were arguing about whose fault it is that we don’t have a place to stay.”

“Yours.” Jagaa said from beside him as he took a bite of the ramen he had been neglecting.

“It is NOT!”

The two once again degenerated into an argument leaving Kiba to blink along with the rest of the observing group. “Uh, you know. You could probably stay at my place for a couple nights.” He said after a few moments of stupor.

Naruto and Jagaa instantly stopped arguing and looked at Kiba curiously. “Really?” They asked in unison.

“Uh, yeah, sure. I mean, Mom is always telling me that she’s worried about me because I never bring any friends over. So I don’t think she’ll mind.” Kiba said with Akamaru barking his agreement.

Naruto and Jagaa looked from Kiba to each other and Naruto’s questioning eyes were met with a shrug. “I guess it’s worth a shot.” Jagaa said casually, even though he was wondering how Kiba’s mother would react to Naruto.

“Cool!” Kiba said before walking in and hoping on the last remaining stool. “We can go once you’ve finished eating.”

Jagaa glanced over to Kiba and then to Teuchi who nodded and handed Kiba a bowl of beef ramen. “What’s this? I didn’t order anything.” Kiba said perplexed.

“Just eat up, kid.” Jagaa said as he took another bite of his shrimp ramen. “We’re gonna be here for a while.”

“What does that mean?” Kiba asked.

Jagaa smirked lightly. “Just watch and see. I’d hate to ruin the surprise for you.”

“So you’ll be taking young Inuzuka here up on his offer then?” Sarutobi asked.

“Well, we’ll try to anyway.” Jagaa answered. The Sandaime just nodded, fully aware of the hidden meaning in Jagaa’s words. “If it does not work out, feel free to come to my manor. I’d be happy to let you both stay with me for a time.”

Jagaa smiled and clapped the old man on the back in a hearty manner, making his hat fall into his eyes. “That’s mighty considerate of you there, old timer. Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

Sarutobi adjusted his hat to sit right on his head again, casting a less than amused look at Jagaa. “Anyway, I must be going. Take care, all of you.” With that, the Sandaime removed himself from the counter stool and exited the shop. As he left, all the remaining occupants of the stand, with the exception of Jagaa, were staring at his retreating figure with wide eyes.

“You know you’re going to catch hell for that, right?” Kakashi said easily as he put his nose back in his book.

“Probably, but it was worth it.” Jagaa responded before looking over to Naruto who was laughing too hard to even eat his ramen. An incredible thing in itself. “You! Quit laughing and finish eating so we can go to your friend’s house. It’s gonna take you long enough as it is.”

“All right, all right, I’m eating.” Naruto said as he calmed himself down before practically diving into his bowl.

Jagaa looked back to Kiba who was watching Naruto eat in fascination. “Like I said, eat up kid. We’re gonna be here a while.”

X X X X X

Thirty-seven bowls of ramen and one shocked Kiba later, the three of them were walking into the Inuzuka compound with Kiba leading the way. As soon as they entered the large gate, Naruto and Jagaa were assaulted by the overwhelming smell of dogs. Kiba noticed the two of them flinch violently and cover their noses with loud gagging sounds and laughed apologetically. “Heheh, sorry for not warning you. I forgot that the smell can be a bit much for people who aren’t used to it.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It just caught me off guard.” Naruto laughed, massaging his nose. “Nii-san’s cooking smells way worse than this anyway.” Naruto was sent sprawling into the dirt a second later by Jagaa’s blow to the back of his head. A second after  _ that _ , Naruto was jumping around wiping his tongue and spitting, a horrified and disgusted look on his face. “GAAAHHH, THERE WAS DOG SHIT THERE!!!”

“Teach you to insult my cooking.” Jagaa smirked as Naruto dunked his face into a nearby trough of water and shook his head viciously trying to get the taste out of his mouth.

“Uh, Naruto, that’s what our dogs drink from.” Kiba said from the sidelines.

Naruto’s head stopped cold with his face still underwater before the trough practically exploded upwards as Naruto ripped his face from the water. “GAAHHH, I WAS DRINKING DOG DROOL!!!” This was followed by Naruto running around the clearing in the compound screaming about rabies and the fact dogs lick their butts.

Kiba stared at Naruto incredulously before turning to look at Jagaa. “You know, when he fought the Uchiha-teme today, he was pretty badass. Now he just looks like an idiot.”

Jagaa shrugged. “You get used to it.” Kiba just shook his head in amazement and turned back to watch Naruto, who was now being chased around by Akamaru and several other puppies that thought the boy was playing some kind of game.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT HERE!?” A powerful female voice rang out, cutting through Naruto’s screaming. Naruto instantly froze and Kiba went white as a sheet. “Uh oh.”

A few seconds later a woman with long, wild brown hair came slamming through the door followed by a large black dog with a scar over its eye on her heels, her slit pupils roving over the scene in front of her. The first thing she saw was Kiba, pale as ghost and shaking nervously, before she moved on to the source of the ruckus. As soon as she saw Naruto surrounded by puppies, her eyes widened. “You’re…”

“That’s right.” Jagaa said, moving into the woman’s line of sight. “His name is Uzumaki Naruto.”

The woman focused on Jagaa with hard eyes. “And you are?”

“Jagaa.” He answered before finishing with an edge in his voice. “The brat’s  _ guardian _ .”

“Hey, I’m not a brat!” Naruto yelled, but he was ignored by both Jagaa and the woman.

“Kiba!” The woman barked making the boy go rigid. “Who are these people and what are they doing here?”

“Uhh, well,” Kiba started nervously. “Naruto is my new friend at the academy and Jagaa is the guy that’s been training him while he was away from Konoha. I heard them saying that they didn’t have a place to stay and offered to let them crash here. You know, since you’re always telling me I should invite friends over and such.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as several more people and dogs came out of the house behind them. Jagaa noticed many people’s eyes widen in recognition when they saw Naruto, some becoming hateful, and his expression hardened.

“Naruto, we’re leaving.” He said curtly, earning a surprised look from Kiba and a sorrowfully understanding one from Naruto.

“What? Why? I’m sure mom will let you stay if…” Kiba was cut off when Naruto put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a large foxy grin.

“Don’t worry about it, Kiba. We’ll just sleep in the woods. We’re used to it anyway, right Nii-san?” Jagaa nodded in response and Naruto smiled wider. “See, we’ll be just fine. Thanks for the offer though. I’ll see you at the academy tomorrow.” Looking a bit downtrodden, Kiba nodded his understanding.

Seeing the depressed look that came over her son’s face, the woman sighed and started to call out to the retreating pair. She was unable to do so though as another voice, one that held nothing but spite, called out before her.

“That’s right! Get that monster out of our home!”

The next thing anyone saw was a black blur appear in front of the man who had yelled and slam him by his throat into the side of the large home.

“Care to say that again?” Jagaa growled as he slowly tightened his grip on the choking and struggling man. There was a loud snarl as a large brown dog leapt at Jagaa. Without letting go of the man, or even facing the animal, Jagaa swung his free hand around and smashed the back of his fist into the side of the dog’s head, sending it to the ground with a painful yelp. Without sparing the dog a glance, Jagaa turned his face to the rest of the gathered Inuzuka challengingly. “Next.”

Kiba and Naruto watched in a mixture of awe and horror as the remaining Inuzuka braced to attack the scarred man. Fortunately, before anyone could start what would definitely be a large scale fight, Kiba’s mother’s voice rang out directed at her fellow Inuzuka.

“ENOUGH ALL OF YOU!” The shout stopped the other Inuzuka cold and made Jagaa raise his eyebrows curiously. Turning away from her clansmen she addressed Jagaa. “Please let our pack mate go.”

Jagaa’s eyebrows rose higher. “And just why should I do that? He insulted someone that, although he’s annoying most of the time, I’ve grown rather fond of.”

Surprisingly, it was the large black dog next to her that spoke next, his voice a low growl. “Human, do you know what will happen if you continue to harm our pack mate?”

Jagaa gave the dog a vicious smile and his grip tightened a little more. “Why don’t we find out?”

“Why you…” The dog growled but was cut off when the woman put her hand in front of him.

“Enough, Kuromaru.” She said as she looked at Jagaa.

The dog looked up at the woman. “Tsume?”

Tsume took a few steps toward Jagaa, her eyes glinting strangely. Then to the shock of all present, she bowed to Jagaa. “Please let our pack mate go. He may be an idiot Omega (the other Inuzuka flinched at the insult) that does not know how to hold his tongue, but he is still one of our own. I ask you to release him as the head of the clan.”

Jagaa turned his face from the woman to the man that was turning blue in his grip and then back to Tsume before sighing lightly. “Fine.” He said before pulling his hand away to let the man fall limply to the floor where he gasped painfully for air.

“Thank you.” Tsume said gratefully but Jagaa merely grunted.

“I only did it because you’re one of the few clan heads I’ve met that’s willing to swallow their pride for the sake of a clan member. Otherwise he would be dead, and I’d be in the middle of killing anyone who tried to do something about it.”

Kuromaru growled. “Awfully sure of yourself, aren’t you human?”

“In more ways than one, Mutt.” Jagaa smirked at the dog before looking to the rest of the group. “Well, I’ve had enough fun for the day.” He said just before a blue and yellow figure launched at him from the side. Casually raising his hand Jagaa caught the punch aimed for his face before glancing down at Naruto. “What are you doing?”

“That’s what I was gonna ask!” Naruto yelled, surprising the onlookers. “You were about to kill that guy!”

“You weren’t complaining when I knocked out all of those civilians earlier.” Jagaa countered.

“That was different.” The young boy growled. “You were only scaring them.”

“So you think.” Jagaa smirked at the scowling Naruto. “Besides, you were doing the same thing as me when we were  _ outside _ of Konoha, even if it wasn’t to a lethal extent. Like that time you put those five Iwa Genin in the hospital because they were harassing that civilian girl.”

Naruto blushed lightly and glanced at Kiba who was looking at him in amazement. “It wasn’t that big a deal. They were fresh out of their academy and trying to show off. I mostly got them by surprise.”

“Oh, what about the three Kiri Genin that were torturing that puppy.” Jagaa added, instantly catching the attention of all the Inuzuka. “If I recall, you made  _ sure _ they knew you were there before you attacked them.”

“Uhm…” Naruto fidgeted nervously.

“And then there was that time…”

“OKAY!” Naruto yelled out in exasperation causing Jagaa to smirk wider.

“I’m just saying that you’ve never had any problems with using violence when needed before. So why are you going all pansy on me now?”

Naruto shifted from foot to foot looking at the ground. “I wasn’t trying to become Hokage out there.” He mumbled.

Jagaa sighed. He could understand Naruto’s hesitation to stand up for himself now that he was back in Konoha. Not only was he already tainted with an inescapable stigma, a curse Jagaa was still deciding if he should tell the boy about or not, it wouldn’t make things easier to achieve his dreams if the villagers thought he was willing to attack them. No matter how much they deserved it. With a shake of his head, he reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair.

“All right, Brat. I’ll  _ try _ to curb my more violent tendencies. ‘Try’ being the key word here.” Jagaa smiled mischievously.

Naruto grinned up at Jagaa. “Thanks Nii-san.”

The on looking Inuzuka stood in amazement as they watched the exchange between the two. It wasn’t until Kiba’s sixteen year old sister, Inuzuka Hana, stepped forward and addressed the pair that the silence was broken. “Excuse me, but what happened to that puppy you mentioned?” She asked.

Naruto’s face fell and he looked to the ground, leaving Jagaa to answer. “It died.” A gasp ran through the clan as Jagaa continued. “By the time Naruto got there, they had already stabbed it several times in vital areas. It died before we could get it anywhere for treatment.”

A low growl emitted from all of the gathered Inuzuka. “What happened to the Genin who tortured it?” Tsume snarled.

“They lived, but they’ll never be able to be Shinobi again. Hell, they’ll be lucky if they can even walk.” Jagaa smirked lightly. “That was the only time so far that _ I _ had to stop  _ Naruto _ from killing someone.” There was a grunt of satisfaction, even if it wasn’t  _ complete _ satisfaction, and many of the Inuzuka actually looked favorably at the young blond as Tsume walked over and looked down at him. “Why were you so concerned for a pup, young one?”

Naruto's expression became defiant. “No one has a right to treat  _ any _ living thing like that. Especially for  _ amusement _ . They deserved worse than they got as far as I’m concerned.”

Tsume smiled approvingly at the boy before her expression became serious. “Even if it was not one of our own, we Inuzuka feel a keen connection to all canine life. You may not have saved the pup, but your effort is proof enough of your honorable nature. From now on, you are welcome in the Inuzuka home.”

Naruto’s stunned face showed his astonishment as he stared at the woman. Finally snapping himself out of his stupor, Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Thank you.” Tsume smiled at him and Naruto Turned happily to Jagaa, but paused when he noticed his older brother was frowning. “What’s wrong, Nii-san.”

Jagaa shook his head. “I don’t know. It just seems like all of this is unrealistically convenient.” At Naruto’s puzzled stare he elaborated. “Think about it. I just  _ happen _ to say one of things you’ve done that just  _ happens _ to strike an emotional chord in a group of people who just  _ happen _ to be dog lovers. So now they all instantly decide you’re a good person. Doesn’t that seem just a little strange to you?”

“I think you’re over thinking things, Nii-san.” Naruto said pointedly.

“And I think  _ you _ accept things to easy.” Jagaa’s frown became a victorious smirk. “Oh well, even if it is unrealistic, it proves I’m right. Resorting to violence  _ does _ have its rewards.”

Naruto just rolled his eyes.

“So, does that mean Naruto can stay?” Kiba asked his mother. At her acknowledging nod, Kiba pumped his fist into the air. “Hell yeah!” Running over, he grabbed Naruto by the arm. “Come on man, you can stay in my room!” Grinning widely the two took off inside the house with the other Inuzuka falling in behind as they too went in. Jagaa noticed that several of the Inuzuka were still regarding Naruto with somewhat distrustful eyes, but that was only to be expected. Nobody could completely change so quickly after all. It actually made him feel a bit better about the whole situation.

“It seems that my son and your brother will probably be good friends in the years to come.” Tsume said as she walked up beside him. Jagaa simply nodded his agreement before facing the Inuzuka clan head. “Considering I probably pissed off most of your clan, I’ll just go sleep in the forest. I’ll be back in the morning to get Naruto.” Jagaa turned to leave but Tsume’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“That won’t be necessary. Your actions were justifiable. I would have reacted much the same way if someone was to insult my son without just cause, and it probably would have been more brutal than what you did.” Tsume smiled viciously. “We Inuzuka live close to our instincts after all.”

“I see.” Jagaa replied and examined the woman for a bit before shrugging. “Eh, whatever. If it doesn’t bother you, then I’ll go ahead and take you up on the offer. I guess sleeping on a bed would be better than sleeping in a tree anyway.”

Tsume smiled and motioned for him to follow. “I’ll show you to the room you’ll be staying in.” Jagaa complied and fell in step behind as she led him through the halls of the Inuzuka home until they came to a large door. “After you.” Tsume said with a grin, getting another shrug from Jagaa as he opened the door and walked inside. After a quick inspection, he found himself in a spacious, well-furnished bedroom with a king sized bed against the middle of the wall. Jagaa whistled lowly as he examined the room. “Kind of fancy for a guest bedroom, don’t you think?” He asked out loud. His answer was the door shutting behind him and a small click. As he turned to question what was going on, he felt a small wave of chakra travel across the walls of the room. ‘ _ A silencing Jutsu? That would mean…Uh oh! _ ’ The next thing Jagaa knew, he was tackled to the bed with his vest and sword having somehow been removed and a pair of lips hungrily locked on to his own. As soon as the initial surprise wore off Jagaa actually shrugged under the woman before returning the kiss vigorously.

After a few minutes of a fierce battle of tongues, Tsume pulled back panting and wearing a feral grin. “You like?”

Jagaa smirked. “Very much.” The smirk then turned into a small frown. “Not that I’m complaining, but what exactly brought this on?”

Tsume leaned in close, her eyes glowing with lust as she spoke. “I told you, we Inuzuka live close to our instincts, and your little display out there has mine running wild.”

“I hope you’re not planning anything long term.” Jagaa said. “I’m not the settling down type.”

Tsume smirked and trailed her hand down his exposed chest, tracing one of the longer scars. “Neither am I.”

Jagaa matched Tsume smirk for smirk. “I see. That’s good to hear.” With a quick motion, Jagaa flipped Tsume onto her back and took position above her as he ripped her shirt away from her body. Tsume shuddered as the air hit her now exposed breasts and groaned when Jagaa leaned in and started kissing the crook of her neck. “Then I’ll just have to satisfy those  _ instincts _ of yours, won't I?” He said huskily just before he nipped her neck with his teeth eliciting a gasp from the woman.

Jagaa smirked at the woman’s lustful moans, his own desire increasing with each one. ‘ _ And Naruto didn’t believe me when I told him that violence can be rewarding. _ ’

X X X X X

Naruto sneezed violently and looked around the room suspiciously.

“Got a cold?” Kiba asked and Naruto shook his head.

“Nah, I don’t really get sick. I’m guessing Nii-san is bad mouthing me.”

Kiba cocked his head mockingly. “You actually believe that old wives tale?”

Naruto frowned at Kiba before motioning for Akamaru to come over to him. Once the puppy was close enough, Naruto leaned down and whispered in the dog’s ear. A few seconds later, Kiba sneezed violently and Akamaru was snickering in his canine way.

“What the hell did you just say about me!?” Kiba yelled and Naruto just looked at him innocently.

“Why Kiba, whatever do you mean? You don’t actually believe that old wives tale, do you?”

Kiba glared at the blond boy who was now snickering along with the little white dog. “How about both of you go sleep in the kennel instead.”

“Kiba!” A female voice came from the doorway, and the three occupants turned to see Kiba’s sister, Hana, with a disapproving frown. “That’s no way to talk to your guest.” Naruto and Akamaru were trying to hold in their laughter at Kiba’s caught expression.

With a quick glare at the pair, Kiba looked back to his sister smiling apologetically. “Sorry, Nee-chan.”

Hana nodded her acceptance before looking at Naruto. “Would you like anything to eat, Naruto-kun.”

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head. “Ah, no thanks. I ate ramen earlier so I’m good.”

“More like  _ inhaled _ it. A  _ shit load _ of it.” Kiba muttered with Akamaru barking his agreement.

“Okay then.” Hana said sweetly. “If you need anything just let me know, okay.” His smile widening Naruto nodded and Hana left the room closing the door behind her.

“Don’t get any ideas!” Kiba suddenly growled at Naruto.

The blond quickly raised his hands up in a placating way, fully realizing what Kiba was talking about. “Never had any.”

“Good.”

Kiba visibly relaxed and the three of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while. The silence was cut short when Kiba started snickering. “So do you think he noticed yet?”

It took a while for Naruto to understand what Kiba meant, but as soon as he did, he too started snickering insanely. “Oh Kami, I wish I could see the look on his face when he does!”

“No kidding!” Kiba’s snickering turned into full blown laughter. “I still can’t believe someone would actually do that to the  _ Hokage _ ! Your brother is nuts!”

“You just notice that?” Naruto asked and both fell into fresh gales of laughter.

Eventually the laughter died away and the two boys sat on the floor smiling as they caught their breath with Akamaru looking between the two like they were insane.

“I’m glad I came back.” Naruto said as he looked at the ceiling with a smile.

“I’m glad you did too.” Kiba said before frowning slightly. “Too bad we didn’t meet before you left.”

“We probably did.” Naruto replied. “You just wouldn’t have talked to me back then.”

Kiba tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Why not?”

Naruto waved dismissively. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.” Naruto decided it would be best to change the subject, and he had just the way to do it. “By the way, your sister is hot.”

Naruto grinned widely as he saw Kiba’s eyes widen and then narrow to the points they were slits. If there was one thing Naruto knew well it was when it was time to run, which he did by leaping out Kiba’s open window while blowing a raspberry at him. Kiba’s face instantly reddened as he charged after the boy.

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU!”

X X X X X

Sarutobi was confused. No, he was beyond confused. He was completely baffled.

The walk back to his home had started off normal. He would nod and smile to villagers as he passed, and they in turn would smile and wave, if not bow, to him as he passed. What made it so different tonight was that this time he was sure he could hear people snickering and giggling after he had walked by them. Several times he had looked back to see what was so funny, only to catch people snapping their heads away as if caught looking at something they shouldn’t be.

What was even stranger than that was that he also had had several people come up to him and ask if they could apply for “The Job”. Sarutobi had no idea what “The Job” could be though. As far as he knew, he had no job openings for people to be applying for. Not for civilians at least.

Now that he was finally home, the old man sighed wearily as he removed his Hokage robes. He was looking forward to taking a long relaxing shower and then going to bed. As he laid out the white robe on top of his bed, he heard a strange crackling sound. Curiously, he lifted the robe up again and heard the same sound only less pronounced this time. Frowning, the old man turned the robe around to see the back, and to his great surprise, found a piece of paper taped to it. Noticing there was writing, the Sandaime read through it, his pipe falling out of his mouth once he did.

**_ATTENTION_ **

_ Seeking Live In Nurse To Take Care Of This _

_ Feeble, Half Dead Old Man. _

**_Advisory To All Applicants_ _._ **

_ There Is A High Risk Of Him _

_ Dying On The Toilet. _

Sarutobi stared at the note for several minutes. His mouth opening and closing like a fish. After what seemed like an eternity, the old man finally cleared his head enough for only one thought to enter his mind.

‘ _ Revenge! _ ’

**Author's Note:**

> All right. There you have it. The start (restart?) of my Naruto fanfic. There will be fun. There will be chaos. There will be laughs (I hope) and there will be tears (again, I hope). Hope you all enjoyed it. Next chapter will actually be a lot longer because it was originally 3 chapters that I put combined. Considering the chapters were all set in the same day, it didn't make sense to keep them split. Also, later chapters ended up being as long or longer anyway, so it's not going to be all that out of place. Until next time. Later.


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